"The windows burst. I thought I'd be burned alive": RTP producer on the Kharkiv strike

Photo by Andriy Kovalenko

The filming crew of the Portuguese TV channel RTP came under fire in Kharkiv, getting their car badly damaged.

The channel's Ukrainian producer, Andriy Kovalenko, spoke about this in his comment to IMI.

According to him, the crew arrived in Kharkiv yesterday, planning to shoot a report on the SES demining work today and go to Hroza village, where 51 people were previously killed by Russian shelling.

"But at 6.50 a.m. I woke up to very, very loud whistling. I didn't even feel the explosion at first – just saw the windows burst. I was crushed by the window frame. Dust, fire... I honestly thought I'd be burned alive, but my arms were under the blanket at that moment and it saved me. But the fire did come in with the shock wave," Andriy Kovalenko said.

Later, he recalls, he went out into the hallway, saw a man with a badly cut hand and gave him first aid.

"We met with my group. The siren only sounded after three minutes. At first there was none," Andriy Kovalenko added.

He noted that their team consists of three people: him and the Portuguese RTP reporter and cameraman. They were intact.

Andriy Kovalenko also stressed that there were no soldiers in the hotel where they stayed and no military facilities nearby.

Photos by Andriy Kovalenko