We Got Shelled While Filming (Plus AMA)

I recently got back from southern Ukraine. I went to southern Ukraine to cover the Russian bombing of a hospital and the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant that the Russian military is currently playing Russian roulette with. I was even able to get a geiger counter from a good friend in the Kyiv oblast in order to get a radiation reading in the area around the plant (the other side of the Dnieper river). I ended up getting much more footage than I anticipated, with much of the footage being much heavier than I initially anticipated. That happens a lot in this country, it can throw you a curve ball very quickly. 

I am sure many of you, if you follow me on twitter or saw my most recent YouTube video, have seen the video I recorded while in Mykolaiv of the Russian military shelling the city center. The footage of that is below. 

Footage we took of the shelling of civilians in Mykolayiv: https://twitter.com/DylanBurns1776/status/1565434207144448002

We had just finished filming at a local hospital in the Mykolaiv oblast. We interviewed the hospital director about his trauma center being bombed by the Russian army, and filmed the damage. While filming the damage done to the hospital trauma center, we were able to access its roof. While on the roof, we filmed what we believe to be an engagement between Russian missiles (or possibly drones) and Ukrainian anti-air fire. After that, we were hungry, and I felt like getting a steak since I had eaten one in a very long time, so we went to a local steak house in the city center. 

While inside the steak house I was informed by some contacts of the Kherson counter offensive launching. This was extremely important information to us, not only because we were thinking about embeds, but also because the offensive was being launched from our direction in Mykolaiv. We then left the restaurant and that is when the Russians started shelling the area we were in. The shelling at some points where hitting 300-400 feet away from us. There were probably 7-8 explosions, and all of the impacts were in civilian areas between the local restaurants and apartment buildings. There was no military target to hit, and I do believe this was the deliberate targeting of civilians, which is a war crime. 

We then, after capturing some footage, made the decision for our own safety to drive away from the immediate area. So we got in the aid van we had been traveling across Ukraine in and drove away for around 5 minutes. After I get out of the van to collect myself for a moment, the Russian shelling started to hit the new area we were at, around 300 feet from where we were standing again. So we jumped back in the van, and kept driving until we were at the city limits. After finally getting a moments rest, with air raid sirens blaring in the background we were finally given a moments rest. The rest of the day would be filled with jets flying over our heads, sirens, and explosions in the distance. Sleeping in the Mykolaiv oblast that night we could hear the shelling of Russian positions all night. 

The night time shelling only got louder was the next night when we were parked in a field not far from the power plant the next night, which we camped in after delivering the aid the next day. It was a strange feeling to be able to see the glow of a nuclear power plant that could cause a second Chernobyl given the right combination of circumstances and mishandling by the Russian military. I thought about any one of the missile that was being fired over our heads, or artillery shells being fired, missing its mark and hitting a reactor. Safety precautions when it comes to these reactors has improved, but Jesus Christ explosion's and anything nuclear is never a good combination. The shelling was so heavy during the night, we could see some explosions within a few miles of the power plant, heard 50 explosion in under 30 seconds, and was woken up in the middle of night due to the sound and shaking of the ground that came from the shelling.

After these eventful two days, we were able to get closer to the shore of the Dnipro river due to some guidance from some locals. We got to talk to those locals extensively and even film with the family of one of them as they showed us the bunker they have under their home that they use when the shelling gets especially bad. We ended up drinking vodka and eating pickles at 9am with these locals while looking at the powerplant from across the Dnipro rivers shore. It was certainly a surreal experience. Our geiger counter picked up a reading of 0.10-0.16 which means normal radiation levels, which is good. 

We will start editing the footage in the near future, and there is some stuff I am leaving out for brevity's sake. But don't worry, the film will all be released eventually after we work to make this footage the best it could be.

Thank you all for supporting my work, I could not do any of it if it was not for your generous support :)

For those of you who are 25$ supporters, please dm me here so I can set up private calls if you wish to redeem them. 

-Dylan Burns