Getting Back
I returned home last week from a week in Ukraine. I’d been before several times and have longed to get back after my last visit in 2019. But Covid prevented all travel in 2020-2021; and then, of course, Putin’s Russia invaded on that fateful day, 24th February 2022.
Even though I blog much less these days that I used to, Ukraine has been on my mind constantly and so featured in occasional posts. In particular:
- When it all kicked off in 2022: The Ukraine Crisis: Links in the chain
- On the first anniversary in 2023: One Year On and Praying
But what of the trip? It’s quite the process getting in and out these days: one has to go overland since all commercial air travel has ceased completely (for the time being). It was so easy before – the roughly-four hour direct flight from London to Kyiv Boryspil is but a distant memory. Now the only options are road or train, usually from Poland. So I flew into Krakow and met up with old friends Sergiy and Irina (who were themselves returning from a holiday, and a friend drove us all to Kyiv. In normal circumstances, it should take around 10 and a half hours (it’s just under 900km).Being Back
There is too much to say and I’m still trying to get my head around everything.
So in the meantime, here are some photos from my Flickr page, as well as a brief audio clip from my last night in Kyiv during an air raid.
- Thoughts during a Kyiv air raid 00:00
Thinking Back
Because I think by writing, it’s been helpful trying to organise thoughts for what I hope will be one or two different articles. The first is one I was asked to write for Seen & Unseen, a fascinating site (provides massive scope for exploring all manner of rabbit hole).
So here is this: How Ukraine reckons with its reality.
