Sky News crew comes under Russian artillery fire

This is the chilling moment a Sky News crew came under fire from heavy Russian artillery while attempting to cross a bridge used by civilians, medics and rescue workers in Ukraine.

Special correspondent Alex Crawford, 59, and her team can be seen breaking for cover amid shouts, screams and the sound of piercing booms caused by the shelling as they attempted to cross the Desna River.

Dramatic handheld camera footage shows the moment the news crew are told to 'get down', diving to the ground as a cool Crawford attempts to finish the recording by reporting on the surprise attack.

But she's disrupted while describing the scene by the screams of a nearby civillian desperately warning of further incoming fire, forcing the Sky News team to jump back to their feet and get into the vehicle so they can flee.

The incident comes just weeks after Sky's chief foreign correspondent Stuart Ramsay and camera operator Richie Mockler were struck by bullets when a car carrying their crew towards Kyiv was ambushed by Russian operatives.

Shocking video showed the moment bullets rained down on the car and the team screaming as the windscreen’s glass smashes around them as rounds of fire barrelled into the vehicle before the group shouts out: 'Stop, we’re just journalists!’

While the bombing can still be heard going on around, Crawford urges calm as one of her colleagues mentions the shelling is roughly 100 metres away.

Recalling the incident for Sky News, Crawford writes: 'Suddenly, a salvo of rockets came raining down on the area sending everyone crashing to the ground.

'Then mad panic ensued as dozens of vehicles hastily turned around and tried to weave their way through the trees and back out into the open field.

'The Russians had already hit the pedestrian bridge by now but as the civilians and emergency vehicles accelerated away, the strikes followed them.

'Not content with destroying the one route out of the besieged city, the Russian military wanted to cause as much death and injury to those trying to run away too.'

Volunteers and rescue workers had been attempting to guide people over the bridge over the Desna River, which connects Chernihiv to the main route leading to the capital of Kyiv.




But Russian troops, having encircled the area from three separate sides and destroyed the main bridge out of the city, set their sights on the last crossing point for pedestrians over the River Desna.

Rows of terrified locals, guided by volunteer troops, can be seen marching in the other direction as the shelling continues around them.




Crawford explained: 'Volunteer soldiers and rescue workers were frantically trying to guide people over the last pedestrian bridge connecting Chernihiv to the main route leading to the capital Kyiv.




'A stream of vehicles, ambulances and emergency teams were racing over a dusty and boggy farmers' field to get to the crossing.

'The humanitarian convoy taking aid in and hoping to bring civilians out was forced to drive across a huge open space where any vehicle movement was subject to attack.




'Suddenly, a salvo of rockets came raining down on the area sending everyone crashing to the ground. Then mad panic ensued as dozens of vehicles hastily turned around and tried to weave their way through the trees and back out into the open field.'




The targeting of civilians and medics violate the humanitarian codes of the Geneva Conventions, which Russia has signed up to.




But the footage shared by Sky News showed the moment volunteers, journalists and locals were the targets of indiscriminate artillery bombings.




Later clips shared in the same broadcast show banned 9M27K cluster bomb casings lodged in a farmer's field mere miles away, adding further proof of potential war crimes being committed.