Russia on Saturday pushed for an investigation of the "murder" of three journalists in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon, bringing those responsible to justice, and to "end this bloody practice once and for all."
On Telegram, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed its deepest condolences to the families and friends of the deceased correspondents.
"The strikes were aimed," the ministry underlined. "Tellingly, they targeted an ordinary civilian vehicle carrying media workers en route to an editorial assignment."
The ministry stressed that the journalists were wearing press insignias, "which nevertheless did not protect them from the precision-guided munitions attack."
It said Israel is trying to absolve itself of responsibility for the "serious crime" by claiming that terrorists posing as journalists were among the passengers in the car struck by the rocket.
"That the Israeli military is capable of such attacks on civilians, which, according to international law, includes media workers, was demonstrated just 10 days ago, when an RT television crew was nearly killed under similar circumstances," it added.
On Friday, the ministry summoned Israeli Ambassador Oded Joseph to lodge a strong protest over an Israeli airstrike wounding RT journalists in Lebanon.
Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the attack "targeted," adding that it was carried out on unarmed civilians, who are protected by international humanitarian law as journalists.
She emphasized that the journalists were wearing jackets with easily seen press markings, carrying only cameras and microphones, and that the strike occurred in an area with no military facilities.
