The prime minister along with his armed security and seven members of his entourage secretly entered devastated Ukraine, but his trip was exposed earlier than expected as bombs and bombings continued in the war-ravaged nation.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, his security detail and members of his team were exposed to potential danger during his secret trip Sunday to war-ravaged Ukraine.
Albanese saw first-hand the damage caused at the hands of Russian troops as he toured three devastated cities, Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel.
He was accompanied by the governor of Kyiv, Oleksiy Kuleba, who showed him around while flanked by Australian and Ukrainian armed officers.
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The prime minister boarded an armored diplomatic train from Poland with seven members of his team, including a social media photographer, a foreign and national security adviser, a senior member of the department and a personal political staff.
Three members of the media – a journalist, a photographer and a television camera – were selected from a hat of names.
A dozen Australian special forces were assigned to travel with the group to ensure their safety in the few hours they were expected to be in the Ukrainian capital.
Last week, Albanese was shy about whether to accept President Volodymyr Zelensky’s invitation because of the potential risk to the Australian leader.
Planning was underway for weeks following the call by Ukrainian officials to pay the visit after their attendance at the NATO summit.
The Australian Defense Force urged the prime minister’s office to call for a media shutdown until the train back from Ukraine arrived in Poland.
Even the attending media had to hand over their mobile phones as a precaution before they could join the trip.
The concerns of Australian officials were almost realized when Ukrainian media, social media and international telephone services announced his presence while on tour and before he returned to the neighboring country.
Recent clashes between Kyiv and Moscow have been concentrated in eastern Ukraine, but recently Russian forces had targeted the capital.
In April, a missile struck an apartment complex and a second struck another facility while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met with President Zelensky.
Ukrainian officials showed Mr. Gutter Irpin at the time the projectiles shook the ground.
Albanese’s security detail told ABC News that “there was no way to shit” for the prime minister or any of his passengers to be harmed.
Local traffic was also stopped at intersections during the journey between places to ensure that the caravan was constantly moving.
The prime minister traveled in a convoy of armored Land Cruisers with some of the vehicles equipped with additional weapons, body armor and medical facilities.
The first stop was the town of Bucha where 416 civilians were killed by Russian President Vladimir’s troops in April in an atrocity described as a “war crime”.
Video and images of dozens of bodies scattered along one of the main roads, corpses in mass graves and locals with their hands tied behind their backs and executed shocked the world.
Local council member Tars Shaprovskiy Bucha said Albanese had become a “notorious name” and accused Moscow of “intentional” acts.
“Each of them fired. That wasn’t collateral damage, it was intentional,” he said.
“One of the slaughterhouses was a summer house. There were four volunteers. They were all shot.”
Albanese responded: “Australia shares your desire to seek justice for these war crimes, and we will continue to do so.”
He later met face-to-face with President Zelensky for the first time after telephone talks and since the invasion more than five months ago.
Albanese pledged to continue Australia’s efforts, in addition to its already $ 350 million in humanitarian and military aid, as the largest non-NATO advocate.
At a post-meeting press conference, the prime minister announced an additional $ 100 million in aid, which includes an additional 34 armored vehicles, 20 of which will be Bushmasters and other technical equipment, such as drones, requested by Kyiv.
“Australia is ready to continue to support the government and people of Ukraine for as long as it takes for Ukraine to emerge victorious in defense of its national sovereignty and its homeland,” Albanese told Zelensky.
It also announced bans on Russian gold imports, following the G7 movement, and imposed new sanctions on 16 Russian ministers and oligarchs.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, was “extremely happy” Albanese met with the Ukrainian president and saw the devastation with his own eyes.
“I think it sends a very important signal to Russia, that the leaders of Western democracies visit Ukraine and show their support,” he told ABC Radio on Monday.
“But with each trip, it’s not just solidarity, but also assistance.
“It’s very important to make these trips (too) to be able to see what the Russians have been doing in Ukraine … Why Russia is so dangerous.
Over the weekend, Russia claimed to have gained control of the entire eastern Luhansk region.