Oleksandr Urvantsev, cameraman with the Chernihiv-based Dytynets TV, was killed in combat in Kharkiv oblast on October 7. He was a UAV operator, the channel reported on Facebook.

Dytynets TV CEO Iryna Lomonos said in a comment to the regional Institute of Mass Information representative Pavel Pushchenko that Oleksandr Urvantsev had started training to become a UAV pilot in 2024. He completed the “Engineering Course: People’s FPV”.

During the blockade of Chernihiv, Oleksandr Urvantsev filmed the impact of Russian shelling strikes on the city. The channel released the program “Evidence of the Russian Troops’ Crimes Against Chernihiv Civilians” thanks to his work.

“Sashko worked on projects that required a creative approach, imagination, and resourcefulness on the part of the cameraman. He could direct instead of just doing the filming. During the siege, he and Volodymyr Vlasenko filmed almost fifty stories of people who testified about Russia’s crimes,” Iryna Lomonos said in a comment to IMI.

In addition to Oleksandr’s professionalism, the channel’s CEO noted his humanity and friendliness:

“As a colleague and a person, he was easy-going, fearless, and knew how to cheer people up even in the most difficult situations. He always found the right approach to the people he was talking to and knew how to get even the most secretive people in the mood for an interview.”

According to the Institute of Mass Information, Oleksandr Urvantsev is the 114th media worker to die in the course of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.