Maltese journalists second Ukraine War fundraising documentary

Maltese freelance journalists Neil Camilleri and Giuseppe Attard have produced their second Ukraine war fundraising documentary. The documentary is free-to-watch here.

Camilleri and Attard, who founded the journalistic initiative Unhidden Stories, travelled to the war-torn country for a second time in May of 2022, where they spent most of their time in the eastern city of Kharkiv and its surroundings.

In Kharkiv, the journalists witnessed widespread destruction caused by incessant Russian missile, rocket and artillery attacks on civilian areas.

They reported from the heavily damaged city centre and the district of Saltivka, visited bombed-out residences and schools, and carried out interviews with a trauma doctor at one of the region’s medical centres.

They also spent time with a local NGO, documenting the volunteers’ efforts as they rescued people from their damaged homes and delivered essential humanitarian supplies to residents of heavily hit areas.

The team also spent three days living with an elite military unit based on the border with Russia. There, they experienced the daily lives of Ukrainian frontline soldiers, their living conditions and their military training.

On their last day in Kharkiv, the team came under direct Russian artillery fire while again travelling with the volunteers as they delivered food and medicine to the residents of villages located as close as 5km to the fighting. Luckily, no one was injured, but the team describes the incident as a ‘close call.’

This is the second not-for-profit documentary produced by Camilleri and Attard, who decided to use their media skills to help those in need in Ukraine.

The first documentary centred around their experiences in Kyiv, Bucha and Irpin in March 2022.

This time, they are hoping to raise funds for the Malta-registered NGO Happy Initiative, which is carrying out several important projects in areas located in the Kyiv region, as well as Volunter-68 – the NGO they spent time with during their second visit in May.

The team was supported in Ukraine by GO, Jesmond Mizzi Financial Services, Moneybase, Multi Packaging Ltd, EY Malta, APS Bank and The Malta Police Force.