~4 min read
AP 360 International Affiliate Correspondent Philip Crowther travelled to Ukraine for the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Watch the video below to see how it takes two planes, three cars, and one overnight train to get from New York to Kyiv.
Since Russia began its full-scale invasion of its neighbour on 24 February 2022, traveling in and out of Ukraine has become significantly harder. All commercial air travel was stopped immediately, and on Ukraine’s borders, meticulous security checks began, in part to make sure no Ukrainian men of fighting age could leave.
For journalists, covering the war in Ukraine became a security and logistical challenge. AP 360 regularly sends staff in and out of Ukraine, while also relying on freelance producers already in the country. Ukraine’s airspace is closed due to Russian missile and drone attacks, making the trip to Ukraine’s capital Kyiv much harder and lengthier.
It’s a three-hour-long drive from Krakow, the busiest airport close to Poland’s border with Ukraine, to the train station in Przemysl. This is where the overnight train begins its voyage from Poland into Ukraine. The Ukrainian railway system has been much lauded for managing to run its trains on time, but also for the crucial role it has played, and is still playing, in evacuating people out of harm’s way.
Once in Kyiv, Crowther provided live on-air updates on Russian drone attacks he witnessed, and on the commemorations for the third anniversary of the war.
During these three years of war in Ukraine, Crowther has regularly provided on-air updates for CGTN, CNA, TVNZ, VOA, NewsNation, LCI, CNEWS, ServusTV, RTL Luxembourg, among others.