At Budgen
Christian Wehrschütz has been seen and heard on the ORF programs from morning to night for several months. He works around 18 hours a day, he says in “Vienna Today”. He has also covered around 44,000 kilometers since the start of the Ukraine war.
“Even when the alarm clock is set, I often wake up 20 minutes earlier,” says Wehrschütz in the “Bei Budgen” interview series. “Of course we have a lot to plan, a lot to drive. You must not forget that Ukraine is a huge country.” So far, he and his team have covered 44,000 kilometers, which is more than the circumference of the earth at the equator.
Fear a “very bad advisor”
The studied lawyer and Slavicist has been reporting from Ukraine since 2015. For three months he has been reporting on the Russian war of aggression, sometimes putting himself in dangerous situations. He’s not afraid. “He’s a very bad adviser.” Wehrschütz makes the decision on where to go together with his cameraman and his producer. “If someone says I won’t drive in there, then we won’t go there either.”
In addition, it is more difficult to get to the front than it was when Crimea was annexed in 2014, says Wehrschütz. “It’s much more shielded because the warring parties aren’t interested in letting independent journalists in there either.”
Danger like in Formula 1
In cities in eastern Ukraine, for example, that are being shelled by artillery, you are in God’s hands, as the journalist explained. “Then you can always be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s a risk you have to take like when a Formula 1 driver gets in his car and he deserves a lot more.”
He does not expect the war to end anytime soon. “I think it’s a war that will last much longer, a war of attrition that may well continue into next year. The question will be: who will be worn out more? Also, who may lose more international support.”