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Clive Myrie shelters underground as fighting comes ‘closer to heart of Kyiv’

The 57-year-old BBC presenter has been delivering regular broadcasts from the Ukrainian capital.

Alex Green
Monday 28 February 2022 14:54 EST
Clive Myrie (BBC/PA)
Clive Myrie (BBC/PA) (PA Media)

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BBC broadcaster Clive Myrie has taken shelter underground after the building he was reporting from in Ukraine was shaken by nearby missile fire.

He has been reporting on the Russian invasion from the capital Kyiv, often alongside the corporation’s chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet.

Writing on Twitter on Monday, the broadcaster and Mastermind host said the blast was the closest to their base yet and that it shook the windows.

He also shared a short video of the explosion, as seen from across the Kyiv skyline.

Myrie, 57, tweeted: “Now back in the underground shelter in Kyiv, our position shaken by nearby missile fire.

“Windows shook. Closest blast yet to our base. Fighting coming closer to heart of #kyiv.”

His work attracted praise from fellow journalists including former BBC and GB News newsreader Simon McCoy, who replied: “You are doing an amazing job. Look after yourselves.”

World At One presenter Sarah Montague said: “Watching @CliveMyrieBBC makes me feel very proud that I work at the BBC. He is a class act.”

Last week, Myrie and his colleague Doucet swiftly put on flak jackets after they were interrupted by an air raid siren during a live broadcast from a rooftop opposite St Michael’s Cathedral.

He later told the PA news agency: “You’ve got to be aware that you are in the middle of a warzone, a live warzone, and anything could happen.

“None of us are stupid enough to stay out there reporting while bullets are raining down, that would be madness and frankly no story is worth that, but the advice was we could still keep broadcasting as long as we took the minimal protection of putting on safety gear.

“So that’s what we did and it meant we could continue telling the story, getting that across to our viewers so that they understand what is going on.”

Myrie has reported on the ground from locations across the world including Tokyo, Paris, Vietnam, Los Angeles, and Iraq during the 2003 war.

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