Piousbox

The Kremlin and state media outlet Russia Today (RT) are outraged after its reporter and cameraman narrowly missed being blown up in an Israeli airstrike, while receiving wounds.

Reporter Steve Sweeney and his Lebanese cameraman, Ali Rida, were injured by shrapnel during a live shot from southern Lebanon on Thursday. Sweeney is a British national who works for RT. Both are said to be conscious and are receiving treatment at a Lebanese hospital in the wake of the close-call. The footage, caught live, is harrowing and going viral. Watch:

🚨 WATCH: The moment an Israeli airstrike, targeting the al-Qasmiya Bridge, hits near RT reporter Steve Sweeney while reporting in southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s state news agency reports the two journalists were lightly injured.

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— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 19, 2026

Later, the reporter published video of doctors removing shrapnel from his arm. It seems they were able to walk away from the very close-call incident.

Russian state media is heavily featuring the video across platforms, while demanding answers from Israel, alleging a targeted strike on a marked press team:

They said an Israeli aircraft fired a missile at their filming position near Al-Qasmiya Bridge, not far from a local military base.

Rida said Israeli forces “deliberately attacked” the crew despite their wearing uniforms displaying their press credentials.

Rida’s camera captured the moment of the strike as he filmed Sweeney’s report. The footage shows the missile hitting less than ten meters behind Sweeney as he ducks for cover.

Lebanon has been scene of a 'second front' Israel has opened amid the ongoing Iran war, in order to root out Hezbollah and its missile capability. Hezbollah has been launching rockets on northern Israel once again - after the Gaza related truce earlier collapsed. A ground war is now emerging, also as Beirut gets bombarded from the air.

RT has written that its "journalists have frequently been injured while covering major conflicts, particularly in Ukraine, including, most recently, correspondents Igor Zhdanov and Roman Kosarev, who were wounded in drone and artillery strikes while embedded with frontline units."