This week on 60 Minutes, CBS News correspondent Holly Williams portrayed Ukrainian war reporter Andriy Tspalienko.
Tsaplienko, a reporter for the Ukrainian news channel 1+1, has become an essential source of information and a hero for many Ukrainians. He fearlessly pursues the truth on the front lines, sometimes at great risk to his life.
“His story tells you something about the sacrifices that so many Ukrainians are willing to make… to try to save their young democracy,” Williams told 60 Minutes Overtime.
Williams and producer Erin Lyall first met the Ukrainian journalist aboard a US Navy warship in the summer of 2021. six months before the Russian invasion.
Their reporting focused on the operations of US warships in the Black Sea, working with NATO allies to anticipate a possible Russian attack.
Tsaplienko took a different approach to his reporting: he wanted to show Ukrainians what a modern army looks like.
‘I felt that we were [on] the eve of a bigger war,” he told Williams in a 60 Minutes interview.
“My main task was… to show Ukrainians how to serve people [a] big, normal army,” he told Williams in an interview.
Tsaplienko showed his viewers the sleeping quarters, gym and cafeteria, including an ice machine, for naval officers on board.
“I tried to find some untraditional angles,” Tspalienko explained.
“And I myself wanted to give hope to the Ukrainians that we are not alone. ‘Look, this is a big American ship with us. They will help us. They will support us.'”
Ruslan Galushchak is a photographer who worked with Tsaplienko when Russia first invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
He told Williams that wherever they were, people recognized Tsaplienko and wanted to take pictures with him.
“He is being watched by the entire country and, you could say, the entire world. But at the same time he is a very simple man,” he said.
“I can say that we have very similar vibrations and similar values in life.”
An experience that brought them closer together took place in Chernihiv in 2022.
Russian troops approached the city. Garlushchak, Tsaplienko and a driver made their way through a narrow humanitarian corridor for the exodus of civilians.
Suddenly a military officer ran up to them and told them that a drone had been spotted and that the Russians were going to start shooting.
The team parked their car in a nearby neighborhood and got out. At that moment, Garlushchak heard a terrifying sound: the Russians were shooting in their direction.
“This was cluster munitions. We were at the epicenter of it all,” Garlushchak told Williams.
Tsaplienko credits Garlushchak with saving his life by telling them all to hit the ground as soon as he heard the incoming fire.
“He was the first to hear the explosions and shouted: ‘Go down. Everyone, get down,'” Tspalienko said.
“When we fell, the shrapnel came and hit everything around us.”
After the explosion, a military officer ordered them to take shelter in a nearby basement and wait out the attack.
While underground, it became clear that Tsaplienko had been seriously injured by shrapnel. He was bleeding profusely, his pants were soaked with blood.
“Andriy must have been in some kind of shock, he didn’t understand what had happened to him at first,” Garlushchak said.
“One of the [pieces of] shrapnel went through his leg and came out without hitting major arteries and blood vessels.”
Tsaplienko told Williams he was lucky. If the shrapnel had torn a few inches through his leg, the wound would have been fatal.
The soldier in the basement was able to provide first aid and stop the bleeding. After the shelling stopped, Garlushchak and the driver rushed Tsaplienko to the nearest hospital.
Despite the serious injury, Tsaplienko and Garlushchak continued their work and provided a report on the experience to 1+1.
Garlushchak, in his 50s, was recently drafted into the Army and is a frontline soldier piloting a Humvee for a combat drone unit.
“That says something about how broad the draft is in Ukraine, that someone in their 50s is drafted,” Williams told Overtime.
“He was given special permission to leave his unit and come and talk to us about his experiences with Andriy.”
Garlushchak was recently part of the Ukrainian Kursk offensive and carried out dangerous missions with his unit on Russian territory.
Tsaplienko told Williams he is very concerned about his friend’s safety. Recently, Garlushchak was almost killed by a Russian drone.
“He was attacked by [a] Russian FPV drone… it’s alive, miraculously, because the drone didn’t explode in the car [he was in]. [It was] behind the car, just a few meters…Russian guys missed, and that’s why Ruslan is still alive.’
Garlushchak told Williams that working with Tsaplienko during the first months of the invasion was “one of the best periods of my life”.
Tspalienko told Williams that Garlushchak is a “great professional.” But the modest photographer refused to accept that compliment.
“I think he overestimated my skills,” Garlushchak said.
“However, I will repeat that we have similar vibrations. We are like one team.”
The video above was produced by Will Croxton. It was edited by Sarah Shafer Prediger.
Video courtesy of 1+1 Media, Volodymyr Kliuiev and Mykhailo Mostepan
