TASS headline says one injured at Horlivka market; Regnum, nine minutes earlier, says five

What is claimed. Life.ru and Regnum report that Ivan Prikhodko, the Russian-installed head of Horlivka, said on Telegram that drones hit markets in the Mykytivskyi and Tsentralno-Miskyi districts. He said people were hurt. He gave no number.

The toll changes from report to report.

Report	Dead	Injured
Regnum, 12:37 UTC	—	"есть пострадавшие" (there are casualties)
Life.ru, 12:39	—	people hurt, no number
Regnum, 13:29	1	1, then "rose to five"
TASS, 13:38	1	1 (headline)

Regnum says its figure of one dead came from TASS's emergency-service sources. Regnum then says the injured rose to five. It does not say who counted them. TASS's headline came out nine minutes later and still says one injured.

The words. Regnum quotes Prikhodko calling the attackers "украинские террористы" (Ukrainian terrorists). In its own voice, Regnum writes "киевский режим" (the Kyiv regime). TASS writes "Ukrainian forces". Life.ru places Horlivka in the "Donetsk People's Republic" and does not say the city is occupied.

Not settled. - Whether five people were hurt, or one. Only Regnum carries five. - Who was killed. No report names the dead or the injured. - Who fired. Every account is Russian. We hold no Ukrainian statement and no independent report. - What RIA Novosti's report says. We hold only its headline: Rodion Miroshnik commented on the attack.

This story is about a drone strike on two markets in Horlivka, a city in eastern Ukraine that Russia holds.

How it got here. Horlivka is in Ukraine's Donetsk region. In 2014, when the war in eastern Ukraine began, armed groups backed by Moscow seized the city. They declared a "Donetsk People's Republic". For the next eight years the city sat close to the front line. In February 2022 Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In September 2022 Moscow said it had annexed the Donetsk region and three other Ukrainian regions. Ukraine and most of the world reject that claim, and so does the UN General Assembly. Under international law Horlivka is still Ukrainian territory, under Russian occupation.

Who is involved. Russia runs the city through officials it put in place. One of them is the city's head, Ivan Prikhodko, and the first account of this strike came from him. Ukraine's armed forces are fighting to take back occupied land, and they strike targets behind Russian lines. Russia accuses them of this attack. Rodion Miroshnik is a Russian foreign ministry official. He speaks for Moscow on what it calls Ukrainian attacks on civilians.

What is at stake. Civilians in occupied towns near the front are hit by fire, and each side blames the other for the strikes. Nearly all reporting from inside occupied territory comes from Russian officials and Russian media. Independent reporters and Ukrainian officials cannot work there openly. So a figure from one side cannot be checked against a figure from the other.

Where it stands. On 25 September Russian officials and outlets reported a drone attack on the markets. They agree that someone was hurt. They do not agree on how many. We hold no Ukrainian response.

The story so far

Earlier stories The AI Times filed on this thread.

What is being argued about

Whether the market strike injured one person or five
Where the figure of five came from: Regnum does not say
"Ukrainian terrorists", "the Kyiv regime", "Ukrainian forces": three names for the attacker
Why every account of a strike in occupied Horlivka is Russian

What each report calls the attacker, and in whose wordsSide by side

Outlet	What it calls the attacker	Whose words	Injured
Regnum (first report)	"украинские террористы" (Ukrainian terrorists)	the mayor's, quoted	no number
Regnum (second report)	"ВСУ" (Ukraine's armed forces); "киевский режим" (the Kyiv regime)	Regnum's own	1, then 5
Life.ru	"украинских беспилотников" (Ukrainian drones)	Life.ru's own	no number
TASS	"Ukrainian forces"	TASS's own	1

Four reports, all Russian. None carries a Ukrainian response.

Sources R Regnum R Regnum L Life.ru T TASS

Claims and verdicts

unverified Ukrainian drones attacked markets in Horlivka's Nikitovskyi and Tsentralno-Miskyi districts on 25 September.

TASS, Life.ru and Regnum all trace the claim to one source, Ivan Prikhodko, the Russian-installed head of the city, so it is one account. We hold no Ukrainian statement or independent report on the strike.

Checked against 3 sources:

T TASS L Life.ru R Regnum

unverified One person was killed in the attack on the Horlivka market.

TASS reports one dead, and Regnum repeats it, citing TASS's own emergency-service sources, so this is one account. Neither Prikhodko's first statement, as carried by Life.ru and Regnum, nor any other report we hold mentions a death.

Checked against 2 sources:

T TASS R Regnum

unverified Five people were injured, not one.

Regnum says the number of injured later rose from one to five, while TASS's headline still says one injured. Regnum does not say who gave the new figure, and no other report we hold carries it.

Checked against 2 sources:

R Regnum T TASS

Who wrote it

Р РИА Новости RIA Novosti

What the bias passes found in their reporting

Actor named no attacker named; the channels only 'said' there were failures×1

Actor named the outage is reported with no actor named×1

Actor named 'the West' is named as acting, attributed to the foreign ministry spokeswoman×1

Actor named headline names Ukraine's armed forces as the attacker×1

Claims we checked that rest on their reporting

2 false2 misleading5 disputed38 unverified12 true

From 26630 reports we hold under this byline, at RIA Novosti, Regnum. Two independent readings, each made without the masthead, a quote attached to every tag. A record, never a rating. Their full record →

Ю Юлия Сафиулина Life.ru

What the bias passes found in their reporting

Asserted versus attributed Describes the same background more softly, as rising prices.×1

Assertion before attribution Europe's car industry 'in deep crisis' is stated in the report's voice. The attribution 'Putin believes' comes only after it.×1

Attributed Names the single outlet the account comes from×1

Figure chosen two radars×1

Claims we checked that rest on their reporting

2 disputed6 unverified3 true

From 922 reports we hold under this byline, at Life.ru. Two independent readings, each made without the masthead, a quote attached to every tag. A record, never a rating. Their full record →

The bylines on the reports this story is built from. Hover one for what our passes have measured on their reporting. · 3 reports we hold carry no byline — we do not invent one.

Coverage, outlet by outlet

T TASS — state-controlled

One killed, another injured in drone attack on Gorlovka market

TASS's headline gives one killed and one injured. The report names both districts that were hit and calls the attackers "Ukrainian forces".

DONETSK, September 25. /TASS/. According to preliminary reports, one civilian was killed and another injured when a Ukrainian army drone struck a market in Gorlovka's Nikitovsky district, emergency services told TASS. Mayor Ivan Prikhodko earlier said Ukrainian forces had used drones to attack markets in the city's Nikitovsky and Tsentralno-Gorodskoy districts. "Preliminary reports indicate that one person was killed and another injured in the drone attack on the market in Gorlovka's Nikitovsky district," a source in the emergency services said.

Actor named: Ukrainian forces are named as acting, in the report's own voice — “Ukrainian forces used drones to attack markets”

Figure chosen: The headline keeps the early figure of one injured. — “One killed, another injured in drone attack on Gorlovka market”

Read it at TASS → https://tass.com/politics/2192863

R Regnum —

Один человек погиб и один пострадал при атаке ВСУ на рынок в Горловке

Regnum carries TASS's early toll of one dead and one injured, marked as preliminary. It then says the injured rose to five and does not name who counted.

В результате удара ВСУ по рынку в Горловке, по предварительным данным, один человек погиб и еще один пострадал. Об этом 25 сентября сообщили в оперативных службах. Новость дополняется

Hedge: the toll is flagged as preliminary, then updated to five injured in the same report — “Позже число пострадавших увеличилось до пяти.”

Evaluative label: Kyiv's government is called a 'regime' in the report's own voice — “киевский режим”

Figure updated: The report says the injured count rose to five, and marks the first figure as preliminary. — “Позже число пострадавших увеличилось до пяти”

Label for actor: The report uses the Russian state's label for the Ukrainian government in its own voice. — “Ранее в этот день киевский режим”

Read it at Regnum → https://regnum.ru/news/4063968

R RIA Novosti — state-controlled

Мирошник прокомментировал атаку ВСУ по рынкам в Горловке

RIA Novosti reports that Rodion Miroshnik commented on the attack. We hold only the headline.

Read it at RIA Novosti → https://ria.ru/20260925/miroshnik-2120280221.html

L Life.ru —

Украинские дроны ударили по двум рынкам в Горловке, есть пострадавшие

Life.ru traces the account to the mayor's Telegram channel and gives no number. It places Horlivka in the "Donetsk People's Republic".

По словам градоначальника, удары пришлись по торговым объектам в Никитовском и Центрально-Городском районах. Точное количество раненых пока не называется. Ранее Денис Пушилин сообщил, что в результате атак ударных беспилотников в республике погибли два человека и ещё четверо пострадали. В Корсуни при атаке на грузовик погиб 46-летний мужчина. Ещё один мужчина того же возраста получил ранения средней тяжести. На дороге Урзуф — Бердянск возле Бабах-Тарамы погиб мужчина, 39-летний мужчина получил ранения средней тяжести. На трассе Шахтёрск — Донецк возле Сердитого ранения средней тяжести получил

Place label: the Russian-declared republic is given as the place name, with no mention that the territory is occupied — “Два рынка в Горловке (Донецкая Народная Республика)”

No count: The report says people were hurt and gives no number. — “в результате которых пострадали люди”

Occupation unmarked: The Russian-declared 'republic' is given as the town's location with no note that the territory is occupied. — “Два рынка в Горловке (Донецкая Народная Республика)”

Read it at Life.ru → https://life.ru/p/ukrainskie-drony-udarili-po-dvum-rynkam-v-gorlovke-es…

R Regnum —

ВСУ атаковали рынки в Горловке, есть пострадавшие

Regnum's first report quotes the mayor calling the attackers "Ukrainian terrorists".

Украинские беспилотники атаковали рынки в двух районах Горловки Донецкой Народной Республики, есть пострадавшие. Об этом 25 сентября сообщил глава города Иван Приходько. «Сегодня украинские террористы подвергли атакам БПЛА рынки в Никитовском и Центрально-Городском районах Горловки. Есть пострадавши...

Quoted voice: the mayor's word 'terrorists' is quoted without comment, and he is the only voice — “«Сегодня украинские террористы подвергли атакам БПЛА рынки”

Quoted label: The Russian-installed mayor's word 'terrorists' is quoted and attributed to him. — “Сегодня украинские террористы подвергли атакам БПЛА рынки”

Read it at Regnum → https://regnum.ru/news/4063959

Checked, didn’t cover

M Meduza T The Moscow Times S Suspilne U Ukrainska Pravda I Interfax U Ukrinform M Mediazona N Novaya Gazeta Europe

Silence is recorded, not inferred — each of these was read when we built this story and carried nothing on this event.

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