Journalist Félix Séguin and cameraman Frédérick Therrien have been deployed to Ukraine for the second time since the Russian invasion began. In this log they document their encounters and their impressions from their daily reporting on Ukrainian soil.
DAY 359 of the Russian invasion
Friday February 17th
I couldn’t remember how long it was. We left Montreal on Wednesday evening, landed in Poland on Thursday noon and waited until Friday for the only train that could take us to Ukraine to leave the station.
My seatmates on the plane are two ex-soldiers in the Canadian Armed Forces who now work for a multinational that serves various armies around the world. This time it goes to Farnborough in England. They are helping the British with an autonomous vehicle.
In addition, it is the British who, according to several experts, have the most reliable military information on the conflict in Ukraine.
The Ministry of Defense Twitter account can be consulted Here.
- Listen to the court report with Félix Séguin live daily at 8:35 a.m. via QUB radio :
Cameraman Frédérick Therrien awaits departure in Montréal-Trudeau
Already 48 hours drive and the longest route is ahead of us: the Warsaw-Kiyv route, a 19-hour drive from Warszawa-Wschdonia railway station (east of Warsaw).
This will be a good opportunity to remember some basic medical teachings. resuscitation, compressions, tourniquet; a bit creepy but essential.
IC68 Warsaw-Kyiv train
Furthermore, journalists traveling in hostile territory have always received such training for those involved and yes, they also have additional life insurance to compensate for any (very) unfortunate event. I say all journalists, but it’s not so true. The majority of my Ukrainian colleagues and even almost all of my freelance colleagues have none of it. You really do have a very high risk tolerance.
The berths of the IC-68 train
Nevertheless, the IC48 sets out on its looooong night drive. The Kyiv Express is an express in name only. It takes 20 hours to get to Kiev while driving would take 10 hours? Then why take the train? Because you cannot cross the Polish-Ukrainian border with a rental car. In short, we always take a train somewhere, as Gilbert Bécaud used to sing.
It will soon be time to put the anecdotes aside to cover what really matters.