Specialising in travel safety awareness training, travel safety and security advice for a wide range of professionals and individuals prior to their travels.
March 18, 2026
The first thing I notice is the lack of traffic as we cross Kyiv’s ring road. On previous trips the cars have basically been ‘nose to tail’, this time the volume is much reduced. The city’s mayor has suggested that up to 600,00 people have fled the city, the catalyst being an increase in Russian aerial attacks and the lack of power during this savage winter. My travel companion is Jamie Fraser, a very old friend and former soldier. We drive into the city on a beautiful sunny February early afternoon, the temperature is still well below freezing and in two days’ time it will drop to -18. This has been the harshest winter Ukraine has experienced for over 20 years - maybe Putin really is the god that many Russians still think he is, as this winter has been a useful weapon to inflict even more misery on the gallant and defiant Ukrainians.
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