Andrew Callaghan and Channel 5 brought their gonzo journalism to Ukraine

Screenshot: YouTube (Fair Use)

Taking a pause from Miami spring breakers, Flat Earth conventions, and QAnon rallies, Andrew Callaghan and his Channel 5 crew apparently decided to give themselves an easy one by…heading into the literal war zone of Ukraine. Much like his excellent coverage of Minneapolis protests and unrest, Callaghan’s newest dispatch sidelines his surreal skewering of society’s weirdest and most depraved elements for a somber, honest documentation of uprooted lives and communal aid.

Check out the full episode below:

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While Callaghan doesn’t ask particularly complex questions of his interviewees (one would assume the language barrier played a part), he still gives a vital platform and voice to those currently fleeing one of the worst atrocities in modern history. The switch from the roar of Talladega engines to air raid sirens is particularly jarring, as is seeing how everyone in Lviv has accepted it as the new norm. Channel 5 manages to fit a lot of interviews into the 12-minute segment, including those with anarchist aid volunteers, an adorable rock-climbing toddler, and the actual mayor of Lviv, all of whom offer unique looks into the ongoing crisis.

But perhaps most unsettling of all (to American viewers) is seeing the mirror images of our QAnon cultists and MAGA true believers reflected in the victims of Putin’s propaganda machine. Much like their unlikely partners here in the States, pro-Putin Russians see the whole war as a faked Western plot to undermine their country, and it’s likely no amount of evidence could ever dissuade them. It doesn’t help that we have sentient mops like Tucker Carlson repeatedly serving as an unwitting Putin mouthpiece, as Callaghan makes sure to remind his viewers towards the end of his latest dispatch.

Kudos once again to Channel 5, but please hear us out: Give yourselves a break on your next project.

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