Reporters from Britain’s Sky News channel found themselves under attack near Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday, with its camera operator taking two shots to his body armor as his camera continued to roll.
Video footage shows Sky News’ chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay and four others in his team traveling by car around the town of Bucha, “Trusted contacts in the town told us it was quiet and promised to show us the convoy and tell us about what had happened,” Ramsay wrote in the accompanying article to the video.
You can watch it all as it happened in the video above. But, proceed with caution, as the video is graphic.
Their journey was undisturbed at first, with camera operator Richie Mockler panning the devastated area. “The Ukrainian people are being attacked from the air, from artillery, from ground troops and takes. The debris of this war litters every street,” Ramsay’s voice narrates. “But the government has warned for days of Russian saboteurs, who’ve infiltrated the country to bring terror. Death squads, who are attacking civilians in their cars as they flee. They do exist as we found out.”
Suddenly, a shot rings out and the camera jumps.
“Something blew up under us,” one voice inside the vehicle said. The car slows as it pulls to the side of the road.
“Stop!” someone screamed from inside the car, as the firing increased rapidly. Glass shattered and covered the ground.
Ramsay said they thought it was a Ukrainian checkpoint and a mistake that they were being fired at, so they identified themselves as journalists. All went quiet for a moment, so they attempted to exit the vehicle.
“Somehow we have to get out of this, but the rounds keep coming,” he continued. “It’s a professional ambush. The bullets just don’t miss.”
A loud bang rang out and someone inside the car screamed. The firing continued, as did the screaming. “I’m hit but escape the car,” Ramsey said in voiceover. “And with producer Dominic Van Heerden, we make our way down the embankment.”
Mockler was stuck in the car longer than Ramsey after his armor saved him from gunfire. The five team members made it out of the car and to safety, seeking shelter in a warehouse where three caretakers welcomed them inside.
Producer Martin Vowles made the escape plan with Sky staff.
“After a mammoth logistical effort, we were rescued by the local police,” Ramsay’s voiceover finished. “We were lucky. Thousands of Ukrainians are. Every day this war gets worse here.”
