Ukraine senior producer Volodymyr Yurchuk worked for days during political tumult and intense Russian attacks on Kyiv to track down Laura Loomer, a close ally of U.S President Donald Trump who is infamous for spreading conspiracy theories and bigoted views online. Loomer has spent years minimizing the war and amplifying Russian propaganda but in an exclusive on-camera interview in Kyiv she acknowledged a dramatic reversal, saying that she had fallen for some falsehoods about Russia’s war. Yurchuk found out she would only be available after midnight, and the entire video operation had to be set up in a hotel bomb shelter – a location made more challenging by the onset of a ballistic missile attack, driving hotel guests and staff into the area in which we were filming. Politics reporter Jill Colvin drafted questions for the interview to be conducted by Ukraine reporter Illia Novikov. Producer Diego Medrano then edited the video, and Colvin immediately started writing. The interview, representing teamwork and resourcefulness across two continents, received strong readership online and helped drive the conversation around Loomer, a controversial yet influential figure in Trump’s orbit.
Related articles
