A Sky News crew has been evacuated back to the UK from Ukraine after journalists were shot during an ambush by a suspected Russian “death squad” on Monday.
The team of five were attacked while out in a car, after unsuccessfully trying to visit the town of Bucha near Kyiv.
Chief correspondent with Sky News, Stuart Ramsay, along with camera operator Richie Mockler were shot – Ramsay in the lower back while Mockler took two rounds in his body armour.
Footage broadcast by the news organisation shows them approaching a junction when the car starts to be shot at.
Initially, according to an account by Ramsay, they thought that it was a Ukrainian army checkpoint firing at them – and they can be heard shouting that they are journalists and asking for their attackers to stop.
The crackle of gunfire can be heard and the flash of bullets flying past their car can be seen, as the attack was captured on camera.
“I do recall wondering if my death was going to be painful,” Ramsay said, recounting the moments before he was shot. “But what amazed me was that [being shot] didn’t hurt that bad. It was more like being punched, really.”
Eventually the group, including producers Martin Vowles and Dominique Van Heerden, as well as local producer Andrii Lytvynenko managed to escape from the car and jump down an embankment at the side of the road.
They eventually found refuge in a nearby garage, and were rescued under the cover of darkness hours later by Ukrainian police. The journalists were later told that the gunmen were a saboteur Russian reconnaissance squad.
“It was professional, the rounds kept smashing into the car - they didn’t miss,” Ramsay said.
He added: “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.”
