Russia's state-run Izvestia newspaper said one of its freelance reporters was killed in a drone strike near the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
Moscow accused the Ukrainian army of deliberately attacking Alexander Martemyanov. Ukraine has not commented.
Izvestia said a civilian car carrying Martemyanov was hit while traveling on a highway in a Russian-occupied zone.
Five other media workers were reportedly injured in the same attack.
“The Ukrainian army carried out a drone strike on a civilian vehicle carrying freelance Izvestia correspondent Alexander Martemyanov,” the news reported on its Telegram channel.
“The car was far from the touchline.
The vehicle was returning from shelling in the Russian-controlled city of Gorlivka when it was hit, Russian state news agency RIA reported.
Two RIA journalists were injured in the attack, the agency added.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the incident “premeditated murder.”
In a statement, she described it as “another brutal crime in a series of bloody atrocities” committed by the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The EU blocked Russian publications – including Izvestia and RIA – in May, accusing them of allowing “the spread and support of Russian propaganda and an aggressive war against Ukraine”.
The Committee to Protect Journalists says at least 15 journalists have been killed since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.