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 you did speak to and what the terms were. i suppose the quest

catherine philp from the times, you're still with us.the things that i picked up from your reporting was that you had a very strong impression that there was a real sense of shock and betrayal that moscow's war in ukraine would directly impact their lives. yeah, absolutely. i mean, this was... you know, you've got to remember, it was sold to them not as a war, but a special military operation to sort of take care of a little local trouble in their neighbour, ukraine. i mean, these are... these are people who did watch russian tanks thunder over the border that morning in february 2022, when the invasion happened. but apart from that, they really haven't been affected. despite their extreme proximity to ukraine, the war over that border hasn't really impacted them the way it has in some other parts, like belgorod, where there's been sort of cross—border fire. so, the fact that the war had arrived on their doorstep was just astonishing to them. everyone was, you know, talked of being in shock. and this was a good two weeks after it happene

catherine philp is world affairs editor at the times. 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?

catherine philp is world affairs editor at the times.ross 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 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,