Ukraine salutes ‘brave Boris’ for top-secret train trip
This was a trip so secret that even some of the Prime Minister’s closest Downing street aides did not know about it.
Boris Johnson’s clandestine trip to visit president Volodymyr Zelensky and show solidarity with Ukraine has been weeks in the making and has been hailed as a triumph.
The Prime Minister was welcomed on the streets of Kyiv by Ukrainians, who he said had shown the ‘courage of a lion’ in their fight against Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
Mr Zelensky in turn said the United Kingdom’s leadership in helping his country’s resistance ‘would go down in history for ever’. here is an anatomy of a clandestine political coup.
SHOW OF SUPPORT
Mr Johnson has been pushing for weeks to fly to Ukraine, believing his presence on the ground would be one of the strongest shows of support to the embattled nation and president Zelensky.
But officials had been concerned about the very unstable security picture.
his trip was given the green light after Ukrainian forces stabilised the capital and surrounding areas, which had faced heavy Russian bombardments.
But security fears were still so strong that the trip was planned without the knowledge of most of Downing street, with even some of the Prime Minister’s closest aides unaware of his movements.
Only a tight-knit group of half a dozen staff were involved in the preparations to prevent leaks which could have meant calling off the trip.
Preparations had been in motion for several weeks after visits by the Polish, Czech and slovenian prime ministers while the capital was under bombardment last month.
This had prompted the PM to ask officials to look into the feasibility of such a trip.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer have also visited the capital since Russia withdrew from the area.
President Zelensky had also personally invited Mr Johnson to visit. The leaders have spoken nearly daily on the phone since the invasion began and have forged a close working relationship.
THE ‘IRON PEOPLE’
The Prime Minister left the UK on Friday night with a small delegation. he flew to Poland and arrived
at the border on saturday morning before making his journey to Kyiv by train.
A video was posted by Ukrainians of Mr Johnson standing inside the train’s dining carriage, where he praised the ‘fantastic’ service and thanked railway staff for their effort during the war.
Mr Johnson said: ‘i am travelling on a fantastic Ukrainian Railways train through to Kyiv from Poland and i just want to say a massive thank you to all the staff at Ukrainian Railways for what you are doing. i gather you are called “the iron people” because that’s the trade of the industry that you work in, but i think it also reflects the spirit you are showing and the spirit of Ukraine in standing up to the appalling aggression that you are facing.
‘i am so sorry about the loss of some of your colleagues and comrades across at Kramatorsk. We in the UK stand in sympathy and solidarity with you.’
Fifty-two people were killed in Kramatorsk by shelling as they awaited evacuation by rail.
Mr Johnson’s trip was supposed to remain secret until he had flown safely out of the war zone.
But Ukraine’s embassy in London broke the news on saturday while he was still there, tweeting a picture of him and Mr Zelensky with the caption ‘surprise’ and a winking face emoji – without the authorisation of UK officials.
Mr Johnson remained in the country for several hours after his visit was made public.
he made the trip despite being labelled Public Enemy Number One by the Kremlin a fortnight ago. he returned to the UK yesterday.
FRIENDS AND HEROES
President Zelensky welcomed Mr Johnson in a courtyard in Kyiv before the pair held a one-to-one meeting at the Mariinskyi Palace, the presidential residence, that lasted half an hour.
Upon his arrival, Mr Johnson asked Mr Zelensky: ‘how are you?’ The Ukrainian leader replied in English: ‘You know how i am.’
Mr Johnson added: ‘i’m very, very, very glad to see you. it’s an absolute pleasure to see you.
‘You are looking well. Unbelievably well considering what you have been through. You are strong. Fantastic. You are absolute heroes.’
As he walked towards the building, Mr Johnson could also be heard saying to an aide: ‘it’s fantastic this [place], look at this.’
The pair sat across a table from each other in the president’s offices, their respective flags on each side of the room, in a meeting during which they referred to each other as ‘friend’.
Mr Johnson was wearing a dark suit with a bright blue tie while Mr Zelensky wore his trademark khaki clothing which he has worn since the war began.
KYIV’S WELCOME
The Prime Minister walked through the quiet but calm streets of Kyiv with president Zelensky following their meeting.
A bystander standing outside a closed artisan bakery shouted out to Mr Johnson in Russian as they walked past, saying: ‘Boris i am so glad to see you.’
he added in heavily accented
English: ‘Forever Great Britain!’
Mr Johnson then decided to approach him to shake his hand and the man told him: ‘i love Great Britain’.
Mr Johnson replied: ‘it’s nice to meet you… We simply wish to keep supporting the people of Ukraine for as long as it takes.’ The two leaders were flanked by armed Ukrainian soldiers on the walkabout of the city.
No British security personnel could be seen accompanying the Prime Minister as he toured around the city, presumably because their
presence on the ground during an active foreign conflict would have been too provocative.
President Zelensky provided a translation for Mr Johnson as the pair were filmed walking through the centre of the city and visiting a war memorial near Kysiv’s Independence Square.
SYMBOL OF SURVIVAL
When a ceramic cockerel on a kitchen cabinet survived a Russian bombardment of apartment buildings in Borodianka, it became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance .
And so a replica of the bird was a fitting gift for Mr Johnson and president Zelensky.
They were presented with the ceramic jug – an image of which went viral on social media after the brutal attack – by a woman as they walked around Kyiv on Saturday.
Mr Johnson joked with the woman, asking her if the jugs were for wine or for water. He told the woman: ‘I’m from London’, to which she laughed and responded, ‘I know’, before telling him that she was from Kharkiv. The ceramic cockerel was designed by the Ukrainian artist and sculptor Prokop Bidasiuk.
Borodianka, which is about 50 miles north-west of Kyiv, has been badly damaged by Russian shelling, with survivors left picking through the rubble looking for loved ones.
COURAGE OF A LION
In a televised address, Mr Johnson said Ukrainians had shown the ‘courage of a lion’ and told president Zelensky that he had ‘given the roar of that lion’. The Prime Minister said that the West would supply Ukraine with the ‘equipment, the technology, the knowhow, the intelligence’ to ensure it would never be invaded again.
‘Having been here in Kyiv for just a few hours... I have no doubt at all that an independent, sovereign Ukraine will rise again, thanks above all to the heroism, the courage, of the people of Ukraine,’ he said. Mr Johnson said that while Russian forces attacking Kyiv had suffered a defeat, their withdrawal was ‘tactical’ as they prepared to re-focus their military efforts on the country’s east.
He strongly condemned the ‘war crimes’ being uncovered in the wake of their departure, with scores of bodies of civilians who have been shot and killed being reported by the Ukrainian authorities.
‘I think what Putin has done in places like Bucha and Irpin, his war crimes have permanently polluted his reputation and the reputation of his government,’ he said.
A PARTING GIFT
After Mr Johnson’s visit, Downing Street announced that he had ordered 120 armoured vehicles and anti-ship missile systems to help defend key ports.
These weapons could help to sink Russian warships that are bombarding Mariupol and Odessa.
Mr Johnson also confirmed £385million in World Bank guarantees, on top of almost £400million the UK has provided to pay for humanitarian aid.
It comes after he announced £100million of UK military assistance for the Ukrainian forces last week, including anti-tank and antiaircraft systems and drones which loiter over the battlefield before attacking their target.
Ukraine has called for more arms as it prepares for a Russian offensive in the east.
BE BRAVE LIKE BORIS
UKRAINE heaped praise on Mr Johnson on Saturday night following his visit, with its parliament declaring: ‘We are strengthening our union of democracies. Be brave, like Boris. Be brave, like Ukraine.’
In an address to the Ukrainian people overnight, Mr Zelensky said: ‘The leadership of the United Kingdom, in providing our country with all the necessary assistance in terms of defence, as well as leadership in sanctions policy, will go down in history forever.’
The deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, Andriy Sybiha, said on Facebook: ‘The UK is the leader in defence support for Ukraine. The leader in the anti-war coalition. The leader in sanctions against the Russian aggressor.’