Ukraine: Preparing for the worst as situation at nuclear plant ‘approaches critical’

It is relatively unusual in Ukraine for a government official to invite you on a short-notice trip.

It turns out it is more common for that invitation to come with very little detail.

The main reason for that is security – it is not exactly wise to publicise when a minister is going to be somewhere, especially when you are being invaded by another country.

We decided to accept, and soon found ourselves at an airfield near Kyiv, where we and other journalists were led onto a helicopter.

By this point we knew our destination was the city of Zaporizhzhia, and the subject was the growing danger from the region’s nuclear power plant further south.

Within 30 seconds of the journey starting, I realised why we were offered anti-nausea tablets before taking off.

To stay undetected, the pilot keeps the helicopter around 10 metres off the ground, occasionally hurdling over electric powerlines.

There are endless fields of sunflowers. Some are in full bloom, some are wilting, past their best. Regardless, the harvest is fast approaching.

Then there is the dense woodland – thousands upon thousands of towering trees which come so close to touching the skids of the chopper.

You are left under no illusion of Ukraine’s vast and rich landscape.

After landing in Zaporizhzhia, you are struck by two things: the more industrious skyline in comparison to Kyiv, as well as the humidity.

We end up at a supermarket car park where emergency workers are dressed in yellow hazmat suits. They are practising cleaning drills in the event of a radioactive contamination.