Chris Cuomo, who was booted from CNN last year, put his own boots on the ground in war-torn Ukraine in his first apparent mission as a "free agent."
Donning sunglasses and a helmet, Cuomo toured some of the wreckage in Ukraine and urged people to pay more attention to the bloodshed half a world away while chiding the lack of media coverage of the conflict.
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"What is happening right now in Ukraine is bad and America should be paying a lot more attention," he wrote in an Instagram post. "I went to the eastern front. Shelling is intense and devastating. Why so little coverage here?"
Cuomo had teased his comeback Saturday, telling his Instagram followers in a post that he would "show you what you're not seeing from Ukraine" on Monday. His website similarly teased that "something is coming" and contained the headline "Free Agent."
Standing outside a brick building in Ukraine, Cuomo explained that Ukrainian fighters had to situate themselves close to the building in order to protect themselves against enemy fire. He also posted a video showing a building that had been pummeled by bombs and was largely reduced to rubble. Then he showed a clip of Ukrainians brandishing weapons and lining up behind a trench while on the lookout for Russian-backed fighters.
"Shelling is destroying homes, schools, adults kids ... often with banned weapons say Ukrainians, showing us cluster bombs and describing mines that are tearing through young and old," he wrote in the post. "Warfare is like WW2. This is what Ukraine is desperate for: High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. They are essential to stop shelling. But they have far too few to counter what is coming."
Cuomo also showed a video of a facility used to store grain. He noted that Russia had stymied Ukrainian efforts to export grain, posing problems for countries such as Turkey, which relies heavily on Ukrainian grain. In a reference to festivities celebrating Independence Day, Cuomo emphasized that Ukrainians are fighting hard for their freedom.
"Ukrainians sound like Americans ~240yrs ago vs the British. They are laying down their lives to keep the freedoms we have here," he wrote in the post.
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Cuomo said he was reporting from the "eastern front." Notably, the Donbas region, which is fixated in eastern Ukraine, has been subject to the most intense fighting of the war in recent weeks. Russia pivoted toward the Donbas region, which is home to pro-Russia separatist forces, in May after facing a torrent of setbacks while trying to capture the capital city of Kyiv.
Last year, Cuomo was fired from CNN after information came to light that he aided his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in navigating a sexual harassment scandal that culminated in his resignation as governor. Cuomo bemoaned it was "not how I want my time at CNN to end" and in March took legal action against the cable news giant, arguing the company flouted its contract with him and demanding it pay him the remainder of his contract.
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Tags: Chris Cuomo, News, CNN, Media, War in Ukraine
Original Author: Ryan King
Original Location: Chris Cuomo resurfaces in Ukraine as 'free agent'