A Sky News team ambushed and shot in Ukraine by a Russian hit squad have hailed their escape as ‘miraculous’.
The crew of five were attacked in a car as they attempted to visit Bucha, near Kyiv, to report on the destruction of a Russian convoy.
However, the team came under fire from gunmen at a junction. And even though chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay and camera operator Richie Mockler were shot, the group managed to escape.
The team is now safely back in the UK, Sky News reports.
Sky News team ambush in Ukraine: What happened?
The Sky News team were travelling down a quiet, rubble-strewn road when a small explosion caused a tyre to burst.
As they rolled to a halt, members of the group pondered whether a bullet was responsible or not. But then the windscreen cracked just as they decided they weren’t being shot at.
Footage shows bullets flashing past their car as the team initially call on their attackers to stop, believing they are from a Ukrainian checkpoint.
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But as the sound of gunfire crackles away, the group soon realise they are under attack. They take cover in footwells and across the back seat.
Stuart Ramsay recalls: “Bullets cascaded through the whole of the car, tracers, bullet flashes, windscreen glass, plastic seats, the steering wheel, and dashboard had disintegrated.”
Escaping gunfire
Describing the gunfire as “intense”, Stuart Ramsay admits he doesn’t recall every terrifying moment.
He did recall, though, wondering whether his death would be painful in the moments before his shot. He admitted he was amazed that being shot ‘wasn’t as painful’ as he expected, likening it to being punched.
Despite taking two rounds to his body armour himself, Richie Mockler somehow kept filming.
Producers Dominique Van Heerden, Martin Vowles and Andrii Lytvynenko all managed to flee by rolling down a 40-foot embankment.
Richie Mockler also managed to regroup with the others, although he was the last to do so. He was pinned down by rounds “ploughing into the car every time he moved”.
‘This war gets worse by the day’
Eventually the Sky News team were able to find refuge in a nearby factory unit, joining three caretakers of the building.
We were very lucky.
Having updated colleagues, Ukrainian police later rescued the group.
Sky News team’s harrowing account of their violent ambush in Ukraine this week https://t.co/VOUf4dUfTT
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 4, 2022
Stuart Ramsay reflected: “We were very lucky. But thousands of Ukrainians are dying, and families are being targeted by Russian hit squads just as we were, driving along in a family saloon and attacked.
“This war gets worse by the day.”
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