Hromadske journalists came under drone attack in Kupiyansk district: car burned to the ground

Two Hromadske journalists came under a russian attack in the Kharkiv Region on November 25 while filming a story about volunteers who were taking out abandoned horses. Everybody survived.

According to Hromadske journalist Ksiusha Savoskina, she and videographer Oleksii Nikulin were filming the evacuation of animals together with volunteers from Animal Rescue Kharkiv from an abandoned farm on the left bank of the Kupiyansk District. A soldier was with them, as he was the one who noticed the horses while he was at his position.

“That day, they were supposed to take two horses from the farm; they were the only animals left there, and there were still corpses of other horses on the territory,” she said.

The team arrived there in two cars: one with a horse trailer, which was put in the hangar, and the other, in which the journalists were riding, the military left near the neighboring hangar.

After that, the volunteers began to take care of the horses, and the Hromadske team began to film them. Almost immediately, the drone began to buzz, so everyone went inside the hangar. The sound of the UAV became louder and louder. Then there was an explosion: the car burned down along with the journalists’ backpack, which contained lenses for filming.

“Since then, we tried not to leave the hangar. The volunteers were supposed to drive the horses into the trailer. For the whole day, until it got dark, we decided not to go out because it was very dangerous; they (the russians — ed.) had probably already spotted us,” the journalist added.

Other drones flew there during the day, and then the journalists and volunteers “heard a sharp whistle and an explosion,” which caused a nearby hangar to catch fire. They assumed it was a mine.

“There was no communication; that was probably the scariest thing because it was impossible to contact anyone who could help us,” Ksiusha emphasized.

Since only one car survived, the journalist and videographer, along with another man, walked through the entire village.

“It was maybe three kilometers, maybe a little more. While we were walking, we heard drones and hid from them twice again, but we were not sure whether they were drones of our military or russians,” Ksiusha recalled, adding that when they had already crossed the village, volunteers drove up: the journalists stood on the trunk lid of a pickup truck and drove all the way to Kupiyansk.

“Despite this, everyone remained healthy, and the horses were also unharmed; they are now in Kharkiv, then they plan to transport them to a children’s equestrian school,” said Ksiusha.