Watch: Reporter stops mid-shoot, helps elderly civilians flee Ukraine

A video of a journalist stopping her live report to assist elderly civilians trying to escape war-hit Ukraine has gone viral on the internet. 

Clarrisa Ward, who works as CNN’s chief international correspondent, was in the middle of a live report when she witnessed several elderly civilians struggling to trudge through a pile of debris on a collapsed bridge.  

The video, shared by CNN on Twitter, shows Ward reporting in front of the wreckage, wearing a black headgear. 

“These people have been under bombardment for seven straight days and are only just leaving their homes, and they’re leaving them reluctantly. And they’re leaving them with the knowledge that they might not be able to go back to them. And you can see many of these people are elderly,” she said on-air before pausing to help a civilian walk on the uneven ground. 

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Ward then resumed her report before stopping again to help a woman carry her belongings. 

“I’m just going to help her carry this bag a second, excuse me John,” she told the cameraperson. 

“So people are obviously incredibly affected by this situation. They’re frightened. They’re exhausted. They’re on edge. They’ve got their pets. They’ve grabbed whatever they can,” Ward concluded in her live report.

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Ward previously went to Afghanistan to report the Taliban’s takeover. Recently, the CNN correspondent has been in Ukraine’s Kyiv to report on the conflict. 

With rising tensions, over 1.4 million civilians have fled Ukraine within a week. According to Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ukrainians are “fleeing the terrifying reality of violence.”

Also Read: In Pics | No man, child, or pet left behind as Ukrainians flee Russian attack

“International solidarity has been heartwarming. But nothing, nothing can replace the need for the guns to be silenced; for dialogue and diplomacy to succeed. Peace is the only way to halt this tragedy,” Grandi added.