No where in Ukraine is safe from Russian missiles and attacks but on our most recent trip we got closer than we ever had to the front lines. Most of the time we were in Kharkiv. With the G-7 leaders and NATO meeting during our visit, Russia ramped up its attacks. Many nights the windows in our hotel were shaking from the detonations of Russian Iskander missiles, launched from across the border. We visited a second line position to the north east of Kharkiv, where members of the territorial defence unit took into their command bunker. Then, we travelled east to where Kharkiv Oblast meets Ukraine’s Donbass region. There, we met soldiers from the 93rd Mechanized Regiment who showed us two Russian T-80 tanks they had captured days earlier. Not far away, near the occupied city of Izyum, we visited positions close to the front, and met weary soldiers who longed to go home. Its hard not to admire the courage of every Ukrainian we met. Its also hard not to leave dismayed at how much damage Russia has already inflicted on this country and how much needless death there has already been.
