Earlier this week, TV4’s team, reporter Johan Fredriksson and photographer Daniel Zdolsek, were exposed to a Russian drone attack in the Zaporizhzhya area where they were covering the war in Ukraine.
It was when Johan and Daniel had gotten out of the car to film that the tailgate of their vehicle was hit by a so-called kamikaze drone.
But luckily, no one was in the car, and both escaped without physical injuries. But their local producer, Alexander Pavlov was slightly injured. Two Ukrainian police officers escorting the TV4 team were also injured in the attack. An incident that is now being investigated as a war crime.
Going back to Sweden
It is with mixed feelings that the TV4 team is now leaving Ukraine on Saturday, according to previous plans, to go back to Sweden.
– It is a split unit. You feel some kind of relief, but also like a betrayal when you leave the country, which we are about to do, he says.
– It is a country that has the fraction of the resources they need. No helicopters, no planes in the battles, and the healthcare sector is like a gaping hole.
The car the team was traveling in was completely destroyed by the drone attack. It belonged to the driver Ivan, who has now lost an important part of his income, says Johan.
– There is no insurance in the world that covers a car that has been bombed by Russia, he says.
– It feels a bit difficult to leave here without having resolved the compensation issue. There is a feeling that you are leaving both the country, but also the people you have been very close to, in the process, he continues.
The Prime Minister about the attack
Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) says he condemns the drone attack.
– It underlines that the war constantly affects people who are completely civilians and who are there for other reasons. I assume that it will be investigated very carefully what is behind this, says the prime minister and continues:
– It cannot be ruled out that it is also a consequence that Russia wants to see. That journalists should not dare to be there, that they should get as little coverage as possible from this war.