Russia summons Israeli ambassador over Lebanon airstrike that injured Russian state TV journalists

Russia's foreign ministry summoned Israeli Ambassador Oded Joseph on Day 21 to lodge a formal protest over an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon on Thursday (Day 20) that injured journalists from Russian state TV broadcaster RT, TASS reported. Russia demanded an investigation into the attack and assurances that such incidents would not happen again. An RT correspondent narrowly avoided being killed, with video showing him scrambling away after hearing an approaching Israeli fighter jet moments before the strike. Steve Sweeney, described as an Irish journalist working for RT International, was among those present. One RT journalist was injured. The IDF said the TV crew was operating in an area where a warning to evacuate had been issued, and reiterated it 'has never and will never deliberately target journalists.' The formal protest adds Russia to the list of nations lodging complaints against Israeli military conduct in Lebanon alongside France (pushing ceasefire), the UN (civilian infrastructure concerns), and Lebanon's own government. Russia's involvement is notable: Moscow has generally maintained a cautious posture toward the Iran war given its Ukraine-related dependence on Western goodwill, but the RT journalist incident creates domestic political pressure to act.