you putting out information. that s operationally sensitive. they don t want video that - could be used as sort of bomb damage assessment video. so getting up close to damaged buildings, particularly- government buildings, - they re not going to want that kind of video getting out. and there is that pressure - from the ukrainian government on their own citizens - as well not to put out that kind of video. also the ukrainian government doesn t want strikes reported i until it has officially i reported them, again, for the same reasons. this is very similar, - i would say, to many other conflicts i ve covered. but, you know, you can get to this point. - you know, we were there a few weeks ago. - it suffered the night - of the heaviest bombardment since the war began. we went out to some buildings that have been hit. we said in our reporting there are buildings here that we can t show- because they re connected to the military. so i think there are ways. ways of being open about that. s
hit by russian missiles in western ukrainian region. it s about 200 kilometres from where i am now, and also in poltava, a region in central ukraine. and some of the missiles were intercepted in other parts of the country. yes. and then at the same time, borisjohnson is again in kyiv with a surprise visit. and i think most ukrainians react to that very positively because they see it as a sign of solidarity from the uk and from borisjohnson on this very special day for our people. as i said, yourfree lance, what would you say in general about how the western media has reported this war? well, there was a huge amount of interest and so many reporters from all over the world in ukraine in the first weeks and months. and then over time, i think this interest has faded in a way. now, maybe some are returning because of ukraine s independence day and also because of this six month mark since the full scale invasion started. and that, i think, is something that kind of worries people in ukrai
war crimes in ukraine and pitching this kind of stories. 0k. i m going to bring in deborah haynes here. you were in ukraine as the war started for sky news. you re back there now. just tell us where you are and how you approach a mission like this one. yes. so i m in odesa at the moment in the south of ukraine. i ve literally just arrived, actually. we flew into moldova and then drove across the border. and, yes, it s very surreal being here six months on to the beginning of this all out invasion, because we were coming into ukraine from december when there was this sudden sort of belief, unfortunately, that russian forces that were massing around the border were actually going to launch some all out offensive. and while it was actually really hard to conceive that a war like that would again be launched on european soil,
you know, being able to get to where the stories - were happening. obviously, the ukrainian - military were trying their best to fight off an invasion, - and the last thing they wanted to deal with was civiliansl running around the place. so getting access to, i to things as a freelancer was harder than it would be if you ve got a company with a full- force behind you. because you ve got to get accreditation and that sort of thing to get places. getting accreditation- wasn t hard, but i mean, just having the accreditation and also getting access, - that s a lot harder, - particularly for front line work. you know, it s really, i really dangerous stuff. so getting close to that kind of area is not easy, - and it requires money, i requires effort, requires the right knowing, the right people. i and that stuff takes i a while to get going. nic robinson from cnn, you know, you ve been in and out of ukraine throughout the last six months and very recently were reporting from there. you know
and while it was actually really hard to conceive that a war like that would again be launched on european soil, the reality, when we saw the build up of russian forces, when we heard what the western officials were saying at the time, it felt as though it was unfortunately inevitable. but even though you had that feeling that it was coming. and remember, back in the beginning ofjanuary. even into early february, the ukrainian officials up to the president were really sort of playing down the in public the thought that there could be that russia really would launch a full scale invasion of their country. this is a country that s been at war for eight years now. while, of course, social media, obviously, we could see the tanks building up and people were documenting exactly what was happening on social media. exactly. and then to be there on that day when it actually started was so surreal. like i remember being in kyiv