On Monday a silly little Russian man stood infront of a podium and told lies to his country in order to justify land grabbing in another.
Its been 73 days since the invasion began and the media has shown nothing but burnt out Russian armour and damaged buildings. I worry that the publics perception of Ukraine will become like Iraq or Syria, places that most people incorrectly presume have been derelict war zones forever.
With that in mind I wanted to share pictures of my 2018 "Chernobyl trip", however I won't be showing you the radioactive wasteland that I travelled to see, but the city that I stayed in and knew very little about.
In 2014 I watched the Maidan revolution unfold over livestream. It was unbelievable watching government snipers taking pot shots at protestors, bullets ricocheting off the ground and even off their makeshift shields.
It was an apocalyptic scene that gave me the wrong impression of how Ukraine really is.
This was the view that I associated Kyiv with. So when I visited 4 years later I was surprised by how it looked.
Maidan Nezalezhnosti, which translates to Independence Square was beautiful. A far cry from the smoke and barricade filled scenes of 2014.
However there were still plenty of reminders that the country was still at war in the east. Sides of roads were lined with photos of soldiers lost in action and charity workers approached us trying to raise money for field hospitals.
I stayed in a studio apartment listed on booking.com, just up the hill from Independence square. In the evening the corner shop was popular with uniformed soldiers. Despite all these reminders of war I never felt unsafe. As you've probably noticed from all the recent media coverage Ukrainians are dauntless people.
Sightseeing in Kyiv was quite simple: Look up, look for gold, walk towards the gold.
And once I had enough of sightseeing I was spoiled for choice for cafes and pubs to stop at.
As we've learned from food prices recently, Ukraine is an agricultural powerhouse, producing a large percentage of the world's crops. What this means for tourists is a huge selection of Ukrainian brewery's and very cheap beer! I managed to find pints as cheap as the UAH equivalent of £0.90.
After a few pints I even plucked up the courage to try boiled pigs ears. They actually tasted really good, but I couldn't stomach the gristly texture. Maybe if they were fried not boiled?
On my last day I visited the museums and monuments overlooking the Dnipro River.
I did consider not including the Motherland Monument due to its Soviet roots, however it seems that its now considered a Protectress, facing Russia defiantly. I don't fully trust Google on opinions like that so if anyone could confirm or deny this I would appreciate it.
Tomb of the unknown soldier
Eastern districts of Kyiv across the Dnipro
These images will always be the memory that I have of Ukraine, not the scenes of devastation shown every day in the media. I have full confidence that the illegal invasion will be repelled and I'll be able to return to this beautiful country.
Slava Ukraini
