ABC News foreign correspondent Muhammad Lila and his team were shot at by a sniper, part of a group of armed gunmen near Mariupol, in Southeastern Ukraine not far from the Russian border. Lila documented the situation on Twitter. He says the 60, or so, gunmen had no identifying marks or insignias, which is typical, but “also no identifying call numbers/signs visible,” which he says is unusual.
Just held at gunpoint, forced to ground, by Ukrainian ETF/Swat team. Guy telling us “Go back to Russia” Beat up guy next to us. We’re fine.
— Muhammad Lila (@MuhammadLila) May 7, 2014
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Gunmen at police bldg just seconds before shooting. Behind in bushes, sniper who aimed at me + my cameraman. pic.twitter.com/6gGNuub9HL
— Muhammad Lila (@MuhammadLila) May 7, 2014
Once the crew got to safety, Lila said he was reviewing the footage and captured the “exact moment” a sniper took his shot and the moments later as gunmen “come storming right at us.” Last week, a crew from CBS News was detained for several hours by pro-Russian militants. CBS News correspondent Clarissa Ward talked about it on CBS This Morning Friday. Lila sent one more Tweet — a selfie — of the ABC News team following the shooting.
1st @ABC selfie in #Ukraine. Team all smiles after today's crazy shooting #Mariupol @mattmcgarry pic.twitter.com/NjUevMVH47
— Muhammad Lila (@MuhammadLila) May 7, 2014