"I photograph the horror of the bombings but I'm not afraid"

"No, I'm not afraid. Adrenaline: yes, I can feel it. But if I panicked I would be finished, I wouldn't be able to work. ' Andrea Filigheddu speaks like a veteran but he is just 25 years old, which he turned yesterday under the bombs in Kiev. He had a dream, he realized it: to become a photojournalist.

The crudest image of the war, circulated in newspapers and information sites in recent days, bears his signature. The family exterminated by mortar fire in Irpin, while fleeing the horror: father, mother, two children with rucksacks. The corpses in the middle of the road, covered with tablecloths and sheets, and the trolley without a master anymore. Filigheddu, from Gallura from Arzachena, arrived in Ukraine together with Claudio Locatelli, freelance journalist expert in international conflicts.

Your photo has gone around the world, how was it born?

“We have received news of a Russian attack involving civilians in Irpin, not far from Kiev. After less than an hour we were there and we found ourselves in front of that terrible scene ».

When did you leave for Ukraine?

“We have been organizing for some time. On 24 February at dawn the first Russian attack took place: we loaded the car and left Italy. It was a good move: having a car available allows us to move quickly ».

How is your day going?

“We try to schedule the services from the night before, if we get any news or suggest interesting stories. We move early in the morning. We spent three days in Irpin. Now we want to go and look for two Russian planes shot down near Kiev ».

How many are you?

"In addition to Locatelli, with whom I have already worked in Armenia in a war scenario, we work as a team with other journalists, both Italian and Greek".

Would you have thought a few years ago that you could find yourself in Kiev photographing the horror of war?

“No, I never would have said that. I knew about Ukraine, but I didn't plan to come here for that reason. I studied photography at the IED in Milan: it is the university that helped me discover a different world, before I used to take photos and videos of landscapes, especially in Sardinia ».

Its roots are in Gallura.

“My family runs two hotels, a farmhouse and a bar. I work in a hotel with my parents, like my brother: I will be with them again this summer, I have given my word ».

How do they live this mission of yours?

“They're worried, but they know that's what I like. After my photo has gone around the world they are also quite proud of what I have managed to do ».

Photographing death and destruction isn't easy. How can you bear certain images?

“We often don't have time to think at the time of shooting: I take pictures while the bombings are in progress nearby. Then when I get back to the hotel I look at the screen of my Canon and I realize everything. That exterminated family had crossed the entire city, they were one step away from safety, but their life ended up there on the asphalt ».

The favorite photo among those taken in Ukraine.

“Those of the collapsed bridge are a symbol: it seems that it was partially demolished by the Russians, then the Ukrainians finished the work to limit the access points to the city. There were people who abandoned their cars to cross the river on foot. The Moscow army is getting closer ”.

How long will he stay in Kiev?

“As much as possible, to document what's going on. I hope that a humanitarian corridor will be left to flee to the south. When the Russians arrive we will go away: given the latest laws signed by Putin against journalists, I don't feel very safe ».

Michele Ruffi