Fox News journalist Benjamin Hall made an emotional return to war-torn Ukraine this week, where 20 months ago he nearly lost his life in a Russian missile attack.
“Last time I got onto this train, I was barely alive, badly injured. But we made it out the other side, and today’s the day that we’re going back,” Hall, 41, noted during a segment that aired Tuesday on Fox News’ “Special Report.”
“It’s been a long journey,” he added.
Hall was covering the early stages of Russia’s invasion in March 2022 when his vehicle came under fire in the abandoned village of Horenka, just outside capital city Kyiv.
Two Ukrainian soldiers and Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski, 55, and local fixer Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova, 24, were killed in the Russian attack.
Hall, the only survivor of the blast, was left stranded on the side of the road and only rescued after Ukrainian troops made a wrong turn and discovered him 40 minutes after the attack.
The British journalist underwent some 30 surgeries in the aftermath of the attack and lost his right leg below the knee, his left foot, the use of his left hand and the sight in his left eye.
“It was an opportunity both to remember Pierre and Sasha,” Hall told “Special Report” host Bret Baier about his trip, during which he laid flowers in memory of those who have been killed in the war.
“I think it was a reminder to everyone that, together, we can do almost anything,” he added, noting that he was able to visit with the doctors and nurses who kept him alive in Ukraine.
Hall admitted that he was a bit “intimidated” traveling back to the warzone but felt a sense of strength when arrived in Kyiv.
“One of the things that surprised me most is that I was a little bit intimidated when I was heading that way, but I actually got off that train in Kyiv, and I felt far more far more strong than I had before, because I think it reminded me that you can go through absolutely anything, you can be pushed down and bad things can happen, but together – and we can remember this on Thanksgiving – together, you can pick yourself up, you can go and do anything you want again,” he said.
“There should be no limits to what you can do. And I think, hopefully, that’s the message that we’re trying to convey,” Hall added.
Hall, who was accompanied on his trip by News Corp Chair and Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch, also interviewed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who acknowledged that his country’s counteroffensive against Russia hasn’t been going as planned.
“This is not a good message. This is true,” Zelensky said of the inability of Ukrainian forces to significantly push back Russian troops.
“But I just want to say that we are — we’re staying strong. It’s difficult for us. Yes, we need more successful results on the battlefield. But we need it for us, first of all,” the 45-year-old leader added.
Zelensky, however, touted the Ukrainian military’s “success in Crimea” and “success in Black Sea.”
“We really destroyed it,” Zelensky said of Russia’s once vaunted Black Sea fleet.
The Ukrainian president also offered his condolences “to all the parents, relatives of those very brave guys, men and women who lost their lives because they really wanted to help Ukraine to be alive.”
“We can’t give you back, I mean, the — your life of sons and daughters, but we will never forget it,” Zelensky added.