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Entertainment
Simon Meechan

Sky News team attacked and shot at in Ukraine by 'Russian saboteur squad'

A Sky News crew were ambushed, shot at and wounded in an ambush near Kyiv.

Chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay was struck by a bullet in his lower back as the car his crew were travelling in were travelling towards the Ukrainian capital on Monday.

The whole crew, including camera operator Richie Mockler, producers Dominque van Heerden, Martin Vowles and Andrii Lytvynenko were all reported as safe on Friday.

Sky News aired footage of the attack on Friday night. The footage shows the team under fire, with glass smashing around them.

Read more: Ukraine aid volunteers desperately need a big warehouse, can you help?

The video is available to watch on The Mirror's site here, or Sky News' here, but be warned, some viewers may find it distressing.

It is thought that the attack was carried out by a saboteur Russian reconnaissance squad, Press Association reports.

Two rounds struck Mr Mockler's body armour before the team escaped and managed to find cover. Ukrainian police later rescued them.

In a written account of the attack, published on Sky News, Mr Ramsay said the team were heading towards Bucha, where they hoped to learn more about the Ukrainian army destroying a Russian convoy on Sunday.

The 30km trip took hours due to road closures, and they were advised to turn around at the final checkpoint. The team then decided to go back to Kyiv and take a different route to Bucha.

It was then that, “out of nowhere”, there was a “small explosion”. Mr Ramsay said a tyre burst, the car stopped, and “our world turned upside down”.

“The first round cracked the windscreen. Camera operator Richie Mockler huddled into the front passenger footwell. Then we were under full attack,” he said.

“Bullets cascaded through the whole of the car, tracers, bullet flashes, windscreen glass, plastic seats, the steering wheel, and dashboard had disintegrated.

“We didn’t know it at the time, but we were later told by the Ukrainians that we were being ambushed by a saboteur Russian reconnaissance squad. It was professional, the rounds kept smashing into the car – they didn’t miss.”

Mr Ramsay said the team thought a Ukrainian army checkpoint might be behind the shooting, but their panicked attempts to explain they were journalists did nothing to deter the attackers.

“I do recall wondering if my death was going to be painful,” he said.

Some of the crew had managed to escape, but Mr Ramsay was hit by a bullet in the lower back.

“Richie says I then got out of the car and stood up, before jogging to the edge of the embankment and then started running. I lost my balance and fell to the bottom, landing like a sack of potatoes, cutting my face. My armour and helmet almost certainly saved me,” he said.

The team eventually made it to a factory unit, where they took cover. They were later rescued by Ukrainian police.

The Sky News crew has now arrived back in the UK, while Mr Lytvynenko is with his family in Ukraine.

“The point is we were very lucky,” Mr Ramsay said.

“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.”

Go here for the very latest breaking news updates from across the North East

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