A BBC correspondent covering the Ukraine conflict had to duck for cover during a live broadcast after Kyiv was targeted by Russian airstrikes on Monday morning.
Hugo Bachega was reporting from central Kyiv on the escalating conflict after a bridge connecting the annexed area of Crimea to Russia was blown up on Saturday. The Kremlin has blamed the attack on Ukraine.
“So the fear is that this could trigger a very strong Russian response. We saw yesterday that a residential area of the city of Zaporizhzhia, a major city in the south of the country, very close to the front lines was hit,” Bachega said, before he was distracted by the sound of an airborne missile.
He ducked out of view of the camera as an explosion was heard.
The BBC threw it back to the studio, where the anchor said Bachega had taken cover “for obvious reasons.”
Within the hour, Bachega delivered another report, noting that the airstrike had hit close to his hotel in the city center.
“We understand that several explosions have happened here in the capital, and we had an update from the emergency services saying that several people have been killed and wounded,” he reported.
He later posted on Instagram that he was safe, but was having a “busy and depressing day” reporting from a parking lot, ostensibly underground to shelter from airstrikes.
At least 11 deaths and scores more injuries were reported Monday after Russia launched a major volley of strikes on cities across Ukraine. At least eight people were killed in Kyiv, according to city officials, with dozens more injured. Many of the locations hit appeared to be residential or key infrastructure sites, the Associated Press reported. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strikes were ordered in retaliation for the Crimea bridge explosion.
