A photo-journalist lucky to be alive after coming under mortar fire while covering the war in Ukraine has spoken for the first time about his ordeal.
Christopher Nunn, 33, of Huddersfield, was upstairs in a house with friends during fighting between government troops and Russia-backed rebels in Avdiivka, north of Donetsk, the east of the country.
His host Elena was in the kitchen when a rocket exploded, killing her. The blast saw Christopher hit by debris and shrapnel which struck him in his left eye, leaving him fearing for his sight. He said he would have died if he had still been sat in the kitchen.
Christopher spoke about what happened on February 2 in an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
He said he could tell artillery fire was “gradually getting heavier.”
He told how he was “making audio recordings and had gone back into the bedroom to switch the microphone on and that’s when the shell hit.
“I remember the whistle as well as this bright light. I remember checking to see if I had legs and arms. There was blood dripping all over the place.”
Fortunately a doctor removed the plastic speck from his eye and his vision is improving.
Christopher is now planning to raise money for Elena’s nine-year-old son.
