‘Things went bad in an instant’: CNN crew on the verge of collapse in Ukraine as Russian missiles fire at their location

Oliver Darcy, CNN

CNN reporter Frederik Pleitgen and his team traveled to the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Thursday to report on search and rescue efforts under way after a residential building was razed overnight by a Russian missile. “It was supposed to be a pretty easy shoot,” Pleitgen said, given that the film crew wasn’t heading to the war front.

“But in an instant, things went bad,” Pleitgen said, describing what happened in the blink of an eye as one of the “imminent challenges” and most dangerous episodes in his long career as a foreign correspondent.

As Plategen and his team made their way to the scene, just moments after they parked and got out of their car, a Russian missile struck nearby without warning, setting off flames and thick plumes as screaming civilians rushed to seek shelter. Plategen estimated that he landed only 40 or 50 yards away.

“People ran to safety,” he said. “We moved to the other side of the road to hide in the basement. When I looked back, the second rocket hit almost the same place. Another big bang. We took cover. [We were] in the basement with tenants.

At least five people were injured in the shelling, which heavily damaged residential buildings, a children’s clinic and a school, according to a Ukrainian official.

Pleitgen said that after some time, “when it was quiet,” the CNN team came out of the basement, filmed the damage left by the powerful explosions, and then quickly left the scene.

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This incident underscores the dangerous reporting that journalists make every day in Ukraine, navigating dangerous situations to bring news of the losses that Vladimir Putin’s aggression has inflicted on this Eastern European country and its people to the world. Last week, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Ukraine was the most dangerous country for journalists in 2022, with 15 press deaths in the war-torn country.

“People need to understand that this war is a completely different level of danger than the wars of past decades,” Pleitgen said, adding that it was “the most dangerous” war he has ever covered. “This is full conventional warfare with heavy weapons that can hit frontline areas as well as civilian targets at any time.”

Plategen said he was understandably unable to detail the security measures a CNN crew takes while working in a war zone. But he said that “planning and communication is everything” for the team, and that they were well-prepared when the reporting assignment quickly became dreadful.

This incident, according to Pleitgen, influenced his attitude towards reporting from the war zone. He said it is “very important” for journalists to be in the country and to cover the Russian invasion, which has killed thousands of civilians and forced millions to leave their homes, “although it is very dangerous.”

When asked how he felt about waking up tomorrow morning and returning to the field given the closeness, Pleitgen said: “I feel confident.”

“But of course, an event like this reminds you to never let your guard down,” he said.

“Things can go wrong quickly.”

The-CNN-Wire
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‘Things went bad in an instant’ post: CNN crew on the verge of collapse in Ukraine as Russian missiles strike at their location first appeared on KION546.

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