KRAKÓW — “Where are you going?” the woman asked. She had noticed I looked tired. We were in the smoking lounge of the Frankfurt airport. Her name was Heidi.“Krakow,” I said.“Why?”“I’m going to be reporting in Ukraine.”“Oh dear. Neutrally, I hope?”“I don’t know what that means.”“As in, you neither support nor are against the war?”“I am against all wars,” I said. “I write for a conservative news publication in Canada, but I am also from Canada’s equivalent to California. I am a pacifist.”“Oh, very good.”.That was pretty much the whole exchange. She seemed satisfied and nice enough. And for my own part, I was not especially tired of or bothered by the question. People ask it, and they have every right to.The answer is the same one I gave her. I am against all wars. The rest is just reporting.Maybe that answer will change with time and experience over my next month of reporting from Ukraine. I don't know..I promised myself I would not make this series a vapid description of the conflict itself. It is reaching in length and timeline something close to the Second World War, and everyone has heard it all before.Still, the basic facts are these. Russia launched an attempted full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, after the earlier fighting and annexation of Crimea that began in 2014. The war is fought primarily on Ukrainian soil.It is said to be a contest over territory, sovereignty, and the terms on which the two countries will live next to each other. Both sides have stated their reasons. Casualties are high. The front has moved. The war continues..Anyways, Heidi and I chain-smoked some cigarettes and continued chatting. I have been trying to quit for years and had made some progress recently. Going to a warzone felt like a good justification to up the smoking game again.“I used to do charity work in Ukraine,” Heidi told me. “Kyiv is a beautiful city. There’s a wonderful little amusement park on an island you should go visit. Actually, I wonder if it’s open?” she asked herself.“No offence,” I responded respectfully, “but going on a carousel ride seems like weird thing to do for a man of my age and an especially a morbid thing to do given the circumstances.”Heidi nodded and agreed.Then the plane left Frankfurt. The next stop is Kraków, then the road east. This is the start of a series — part trip, part journey, part attempt at satisfying some of my morbid curiosities, but above all else, a job.
