Russian journalist Svitlana Babayeva, who worked for a major Kremlin-backed media group, died on Friday after being accidentally wounded at a shooting range in Crimea, Russian officials and state media said.

Russian military in DonetskPhoto: Viktor Antonyuk / Sputnik / Profimedia

Svitlana Babayeva headed the Simferopol branch of the Rossiya Segodnya media group on the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.

RIA Novosti, a subsidiary agency of Rossiya Segodnya, reported that Babayeva was killed by an accidental bullet during the shooting. He did not provide any other details.

Pro-Kremlin figures paid tribute to Babaeva in posts on social networks. The Russian governor of Crimea Serhiy Aksyonov called her death an irreparable loss.

“Svitlana has done a lot to bring the truth about what is happening in Kherson region to the public,” noted the pro-Russian leader of Kherson, Volodymyr Saldo.

Russia announced that it had annexed Kherson and three other regions after it held pseudo-referendums, which Kyiv and the West consider fake.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram page: “I love you very much, Sveta.”

Ukraine imposed sanctions on the Rossiya Segodnya group, calling its CEO Dmytro Kiselyov “a central figure in government propaganda that supports the deployment of Russian troops in Ukraine.”

In a statement published by RIA Novosti, Kiselyov said Babayeva was a “warm person who firmly supported Russia” and “wanted to support our heroes.”

Previously, Babayeva was the head of the RIA Novosti bureau in Great Britain and the USA and the editor of the Gazeta.Ru website, the agency reports.