(InformingNews.com) – The Associated Press Ukrainian video journalist, Mstyslav Chernov, stayed behind in Mariupol to capture the true story of what was happening. But his choice left him in the middle of a violent siege by the Russians. Despite the situation, he did his best to document what he saw before fleeing for his life.
Twenty days in Mariupol: The @AP team that documented the city's agony recounts their experience: https://t.co/Ew2LrHjvks
— AP CorpComm (@AP_CorpComm) March 22, 2022
Mstyslav Chernov went to the city in February with a colleague, Evgeniy Maloletka. They made it there an hour before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine.
Chernov said about a quarter of the residents in the city left early on, but those remaining were stuck once Russian forces began targeting it. He said that little by little, the Russians began taking away necessities, including electricity, food, and water. They then went after communications, and residents lost access to cell service, radio, and television.
By the time Mariupol had no connections left to the outside world, Chernov stated the other journalists had fled. The blockade went up, and he said things became chaotic. His team stayed and risked their safety to ensure the world knew what was going on inside the city.
During his time there, Chernov saw many people die, including children, and he was under heavy shelling almost constantly. The team managed to find one spot with an Internet signal, where they would go every day to send out their stories and images, but that was gone by March 3.
The Russians were actively trying to find the team to stop them, but eventually, Ukrainian soldiers came and got them out. They were the last journalists to leave the city.
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