Frontline testimonies from Ukraine. Journalist Andrei Tsaplienko: They shot a family, and we received these pictures

Video footage from the Ukrainian front and testimonies about the atrocities of war has been shared at a meeting with Ukrainian journalist Andrei Tsaplienko, a war correspondent, in Chisinau. The public discussion took place as part of the Frontline Reports project, organized by the Civic Arena Association and supported by the Embassy of the United States in Moldova.

Ukrainian journalist Andrei Tsaplienko operates at the national TV channel 1+1 in Kiev. During the meeting, the journalist presented video materials from the Ukrainian front. The captured sequences are evidence of war crimes committed by the Russian army, the journalist claims.

‘’They shot a family and we received these pictures. We didn't know the names of the murdered individuals, yet. We sent these sequences to a German and a French channel. As we began to work on the film, to edit, I started to find out who these people were, those who were executed. I managed to recover some names, the others not, at that time. And when I brought the documents, my operator recognized his colleague. It was shocking for him, as he had filmed her body burning,’’ the journalist recounted.

Though he has vast experience and reported on the 2014 armed conflict in Donbas, Andrei Tsaplienko says he never believed there would be war in Ukraine.

‘’It's very hard to know you're at war with your neighbor. People in Ukraine are accustomed to suffering. In our TV materials, we no longer blur shocking images. We let the public decide for themselves what is right and what is not, what is good and what is not.’’

‘’Being a war journalist is hard. Risk accompanies you everywhere. Although I'm not addicted to adrenaline, this job is for me. I like being useful, communicating with soldiers, and delivering accurate information through my reports,’’ journalist Andrei Tsaplienko told MOLDPRES.

The protection of journalists is a vital subject in armed conflicts and war zones, considering the immense risks they face. However, this humanitarian right of journalists has been trampled by the Russian army since 2014.

‘’I realized this in Crimea. The first time we were expelled as a group, and the encounter with the Russians cost me six broken ribs and the loss of equipment worth about 100,000 dollars. We faced this reality, and for me, as someone who had already worked for 20 years in journalism till 2014, this was a shock, to be honest,’’ the journalist said.

The audience present in the Azure Hall of the National History Museum was deeply moved by the footage from the front and the journalist’s memories of the trials he went through.

‘’We saw the war in Ukraine with different eyes. What we see here at home is very little,’’ said a participant.

‘’Having a war journalist in front of you is unusual, but very welcome, because it helps us understand the reality differently.’’

The public discussion with Ukrainian journalist Andrei Tsaplienko took place as part of the Frontline Reports project, organized by the Civic Arena Association and supported by the Embassy of the United States in Moldova. The event's goal was to inform the public firsthand about the war in Ukraine, the organizers said.

‘’We wanted to bring journalists who could share with us what they see with their own eyes on the battlefield. A journalist is obliged to tell the truth, even if it contains a mix of patriotic spirit,’’ said Ludmila Barbă, president of the Civic Arena' Association.

Andrei Tsaplienko has dedicated almost a quarter of a century to war journalism. Since 2001, he has reported on conflicts in Afghanistan, Macedonia, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Nepal, Sri Lanka, South Ossetia, Kashmir, Liberia, Burundi and Colombia. In Ukraine, he has been active on the frontline since 2014, documenting events in Crimea and Donbas. He has traversed numerous conflict zones, but was wounded in his own country, being caught under Russian army fire.

PHOTO GALLERY // 'Frontline Reports': Andrei Tsaplienko, Ukrainian War Journalist

In three years of war, at least 12,654 civilians have been killed in Ukraine, according to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), which states that the real toll ‘’is probably considerably higher.’’ Over 95,000 Russian soldiers have been killed, according to researchers from Mediazona and the BBC's Russian service. Ukraine has lost 46,000 soldiers, and ‘’another tens of thousands are missing on missions or are in captivity,’’ said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.