The mobilization of a translator disrupted a British journalist’s report in Donbas

British journalist from The Sun Jerome Starkey said his trip to Donbas was disrupted after the interpreter and driver of his crew were mobilized on their way to film a report.

The journalist described the incident in an article for the newspaper.

According to Starkey, his “Ukrainian friend and colleague” was forcibly conscripted into the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

“Usually, when we say we’re British, we’re greeted with a smile or a cheerful shout — sometimes even a salute of ‘Boris Johnson!’ — before being waved through… But not this time. No smiles. No jokes. Instead, we were about to witness the ruthless side of Ukraine’s recruitment crisis. Over the next eight hours, my Ukrainian friend and colleague — a journalist I’ve worked with for many years — was forcibly drafted into his country’s armed forces. Our three-person team was torn apart. My friend, whom I’ll call D, was deprived of his freedom. Photographer Peter Jordan from The Sun and I were left without an interpreter. Our dangerous, expensive, and long-planned reporting trip was ruined… I don’t know what will happen to D,” Starkey wrote.

The journalist said the situation with the interpreter looked more like an arrest. According to him, in the Kharkiv region, armed men approached them and demanded they go to a military enlistment office immediately.

Starkey admitted he tried to use his contacts among Ukrainian military officials to help his colleague, but his attempts failed.

He added that the interpreter was secretly taken out of the recruitment office. Some time later, the journalist received a message from him saying that he had been taken far away and that there was no way to bring him back.

Earlier, media outlets reported that near Ternopil, employees of a recruitment office mobilized a cameraman from an Austrian TV company while he was on his way to a shoot.