As the Russia-Ukraine war entered its second year, I decided to travel to Kyiv in early 2023: to see first-hand how the war was reshaping the city and its people. So, I reached out to the Ukrainian embassy in New Delhi and persuaded the officials to give me a tourist visa, as none of the other categories applied to an academic like me. After several weeks of persuasion, they finally agreed. The irony of visiting a warzone on a tourist visa wasn’t lost on me.
Getting to Warsaw was easy. Then came the difficult part. Thanks to the war, there were no flights to Ukraine, and train tickets had to be reserved much in advance. So, I decided to get on a bus, which would take 14 hours to get to Kyiv. The bus was mostly filled with elderly women returning from Warsaw. Sitting next to me, an elderly woman explained that men were fighting on the frontlines, younger women were caring for families, and women of her age had to travel for work, shopping, and other errands. She was chatty yet helpful; earlier, she had argued with the bus conductor who refused me entry, unable to understand my reason for travelling to Kyiv. A minor road accident delayed our arrival, and by the time we reached the war-torn capital—marked by numerous fresh crosses in the cemetery near the train station—a strict curfew was already in place.