BBC's Clive Myrie forced to shelter underground in Kyiv as fighting draws closer

BBC News reporter Clive Myrie has told how he was forced to take shelter underground as the fighting in Kyiv came uncomfortably close to his base, shaking the windows.

The seasoned foreign correspondent has been reporting on Russia's invasion of Ukraine alongside BBC chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet and tweeted that attacks were nearing the Ukrainian capital's centre.

On Monday night Myrie, 57, tweeted: “Now back in the underground shelter in Kyiv, our position shaken by nearby missile fire.

“Windows shook. Closest blast yet to our base. Fighting coming closer to heart of #kyiv.”

Read more: Clive Myrie shares sobering moment in war reporting when he wrote goodbye letter to family

Watch: ITV News reports on the attack on Freedom Square in Kharkiv

On Tuesday morning, he appeared to be back on the upper floors of a building as he tweeted snowy scenes in a now-deserted looking Kyiv.

His work attracted praise from fellow journalists including former BBC and GB News newsreader Simon McCoy, who replied: “You are doing an amazing job. Look after yourselves.”

World At One presenter Sarah Montague said: “Watching @CliveMyrieBBC makes me feel very proud that I work at the BBC. He is a class act.”

Read more: Viewers moved as Clive Myrie appears to 'shed tear' while reporting on Ukraine crisis

A BBC spokesperson explained how the corporation's reporters were being kept as safe as possible: "The safety of our teams working and reporting from Ukraine is our top priority and we have a range of measures in place to support staff as well as highly skilled teams working to assess and mitigate any risks.

"We will continue to bring our expert journalism and analysis of this significant story to our audiences in the UK and around the world."

Last week, Myrie and Doucet swiftly put on flak jackets after they were interrupted by an air raid siren during a live broadcast from a rooftop opposite St Michael’s Cathedral.

He later said: “You’ve got to be aware that you are in the middle of a warzone, a live warzone, and anything could happen.

“None of us are stupid enough to stay out there reporting while bullets are raining down, that would be madness and frankly no story is worth that, but the advice was we could still keep broadcasting as long as we took the minimal protection of putting on safety gear.

“So that’s what we did and it meant we could continue telling the story, getting that across to our viewers so that they understand what is going on.”

Myrie has reported on the ground from locations across the world including Tokyo, Paris, Vietnam, Los Angeles, and Iraq during the 2003 war.