So, obviously, my immediate question was, can we go? can we get there? setting it up with the ukrainians was not the hard bit. Actually, it was convincing my editors and, you know, layers of management back at the times that this was a safe thing to do, or that we could mitigate the risks involved in it. Because they weren t just about the danger there. They were also these legal risks about. . . . . The legal consequences of illegally crossing into russia, which is how the russian government have perceived the trip. But you obviously persuaded them, cos you went. Just to explain, then, who you did speak to and what the terms were. I suppose the question is, whether you were changing names to protect russians, because getting people, presumably, in russia to speak candidly to western journalists must be very hard? well, yeah, these are people who lived in a very quiet corner of russia, and probably had never had anything to do with a journalist, even a russian journalist, never mind a
To protect russians, to protect russians, because getting people, presumably, in russia to speak candidly to Western Journalists must be very hard . Well, yeah, these are people who lived in a very quiet corner of russia, and probably had never had anything to do with a journalist, even a russian journalist, never mind a foreign one. I gave them their choices. I used first names only. And, you know, gave them the choice. I also made. I made very sure to speak to them out of the earshot of ukrainian journalists as much. Ukraine and had taken aggressive action there. And you attended something that sounded very fascinating, which was that ukraines civilian Military Liaison Officers were showing films to local people about the invasion. And i wonder what the reaction was to the films as you were there . Yeah, i mean, that was extraordinary, and one of the most extraordinary things to watch. There was a small audience of older people who were watching it. I spoke to one of them afterwards,
Catherine philp is world affairs editor at the times. She s reported from war zones for decades, and recently accompanied ukrainian forces across the border into kursk. So, i was coming into ukraine for. . . I ve been coming on and off since before the invasion, and this was a long scheduled visit. Itjust so happened that it came at a time when ukrainian forces had crossed the border into russia. So, obviously, my immediate question was, can we go? can we get there? setting it up with the ukrainians was not the hard bit. Actually, it was convincing my editors and, you know, layers of management back at the times that this was a safe thing to do, or that we could mitigate the risks involved in it. Because they weren t just about the danger there. They were also these legal risks about. . . . . The legal consequences of illegally crossing into russia, which is how the russian government have perceived the trip. But you obviously persuaded them, cos you went. Just to explain, then, who yo
So many people dont think that Climate Change is real. No, no, no, no it just was extremely hot and everyone was starting to get worried, day by day, until it happened. Temperatures will climb well into the 405, making conditions even worse on our fire grounds. The footage that i took of the fire was shot on the gopro that i had actually got for christmas, five days before the event. It was on a very hot day to begin with, and so that made the fire, i think, a lot more aggressive. In the afternoon, i got the first glimpse of the fire coming over one of the mountains in front of us. Its so much smokier over there. It then started behind our house. I and i was ust standing up there, i thinkingh this is happening. Need to get off the roof now and start fighting. Whoa, kangaroos ok, its coming this way shall i get the other pump going . What . What can i do . The fire was just too intense and out of my control. Dad and if india had been in earshot at the time, i was wanting her to get into
In front of us. Its so much smokier over there. It then started behind our house and i was just standing up there, thinking, bleep, ,. , , i need to get off the roof now and start fighting. Whoa, kangaroo ok, its coming this way should i get the other pump going . What . What can i do . The fire was just too intense and out of my control. Dad and if india had been in earshot at the time, i was wanting her to get into that fire shelter and just give up. Its over. Weve done the best we can. Oh, no no, no, no it did get really intense and i thought we were going to lose the house. Um. But itjust calmed down for a second and the fire kept going up the mountain. Oh, yeah. It has completely and utterly changed the landscape here for the rest of my life, if not forever. As far as any of the tall trees, mostly all of them have been wiped out. We are right still in the middle of this heatwave, so as we head into the christmas period. That is what happens when you wake at 5 30am so theres very