‘It seems a fitting end to my weird, wild, wretched journey here’: Ben Fogle goes skinny-dipping in a river near Chernobyl while on a ‘life-changing’ mission to deliver supplies to the victims of the Ukraine war
Ben Fogle has shared a reflective post after visiting war-torn Ukraine this week where he spent time delivering supplies to victims of the conflict.
The TV star, 48, posted a picture of himself skinny-dipping in the Pripyat river – which flows near Chernobyl – on Thursday with his ‘Ukrainian friends’.
The Countryfile presenter described his visit to the country as ‘life-changing’, as he spent time ‘delivering cars and supplies to the resettlers within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone’ while on a ‘private mission’.
‘It seems a fitting end to my journey here’: Ben Fogle has shared a reflective post after visiting war-torn Ukraine this week where he spent time delivering supplies to victims of the conflict
The exclusion zone is an area around the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster that only scientists and government officials can access.
Ben wrote: ‘Swimming with my Ukrainian friends in the Pripyat river next to the remains of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in a war zone is probably not where I should be. But I am.
‘It seems a fitting end to my weird, wild, wretched journey here. I came to help. To share. To learn. To love and to cry.’
Life-changing experience: Ben said that his visit to the country has been life-changing, after ‘delivering cars and supplies to the resettlers within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone’ while on a ‘private mission’
River: Pictured is the river Pripyat, which flows near Chernobyl
‘I have been moved to tears by the kindness, the pride, the stoicism and the resolve of Ukrainians.’
He went on to say that his visit to the country reminded him to ‘value freedom and security’.
‘If there is one thing my Ukrainian friends have taught me, it’s to seize the moment and live every moment as if it’s your last. Love, peace and dodgy skinny dips.’
He finished: ‘P.S. it’s not actually that radioactive and it was a good way to wash after a week on the road.’
‘Like many, I have watched the conflict in Ukraine unfold with a mix of horror and frustration at my inability to help,’ he explained
Haunting: In 1986 an explosion at the Chernobyl power plant (pictured) in the former Soviet Union town of Pripyat leaked radioactive material into the environment
What is the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone?
In 1986 an explosion at the Chernobyl power plant in the former Soviet Union town of Pripyat leaked radioactive material into the environment.
The explosion was caused by a fire in one of the nuclear reactors and the surrounding area was evacuated as a result.
Around 116,000 people were permanently evacuated from the exclusion zone around the power plant, with villages and towns left to go to ruin
While radiation levels in the region is still considered too high for humans to return, wildlife has moved back into the 1,600 square mile (4,300 square km) Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ) and is flourishing
In 1986 an explosion at the Chernobyl power plant in the former Soviet Union town of Pripyat leaked radioactive material into the environment.
The explosion was caused by a fire in one of the nuclear reactors and the surrounding area was evacuated as a result.
Around 116,000 people were permanently evacuated from the exclusion zone around the power plant, with villages and towns left to go to ruin.
While radiation levels in the region is still considered too high for humans to return, wildlife has moved back into the 1,600 square mile (4,300 square km) Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ) and is flourishing.
Ben travelled from the UK to Ukraine earlier this week ‘to deliver supplies to some of the rural communities of resettlers within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone occupied early in the invasion.’
He said he was back in the country, this time on a ‘private mission’ to help others.
‘Like many, I have watched the conflict in Ukraine unfold with a mix of horror and frustration at my inability to help,’ he explained.
‘I’m now here on a private mission (this is not for tv) to deliver cars and supplies to the resettlers within the exclusion zone.’
He also shared a picture of an army tank and said: ‘War is ugly and brutal. This is the true face of warfare. Loss and despair. Lives lost. Families torn apart. Lost dreams. Shattered hopes’
A good cause: He said he was back in the country, this time on a ‘private mission’ to help others
‘On the train home, several young men trying to leave the country were removed from the carriage. They were not allowed to cross the border. They must stay… But love is stronger than hate.’
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, with the Russo-Ukranian War starting in 2014.
Since Russia’s forces were defeated near Kyiv in March, Moscow has waged a relentless war of attrition, using its firepower advantage to press slow advances by bombarding towns and villages.
Meanwhile it was reported on Friday that Ukrainian soldiers are being welcomed as heroes by gleeful residents who have lived under Russian occupation for months, as Kyiv continues to retake dozens of settlements from the clutches of Vladimir Putin’s forces.
Heroes: Meanwhile it was reported on Friday that Ukrainian soldiers are being welcomed as heroes by gleeful residents who have lived under Russian occupation for months. Pictured are Ukrainian soldiers
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, with the Russo-Ukranian War starting in 2014.
Since Russia’s forces were defeated near Kyiv in March, Moscow has waged a relentless war of attrition, using its firepower advantage to press slow advances by bombarding towns and villages
Meanwhile it was reported on Friday that Ukrainian soldiers are being welcomed as heroes by gleeful residents who have lived under Russian occupation for months, as Kyiv continues to retake dozens of settlements from the clutches of Vladimir Putin’s forces
Videos and pictures have emerged showing troops standing victoriously on top of Russian flags in the liberated city Balakliia, while others have been shown in footage discovering the burnt out wreckages of enemy tanks
Videos and pictures have emerged showing troops standing victoriously on top of Russian flags in the liberated city Balakliia, while others have been shown in footage discovering the burnt out wreckages of enemy tanks.
The images come as swiftly advancing Ukrainian troops were bearing down on the main railway supplying Moscow’s forces in the east on Friday, after the sudden collapse of a section of the Russian front-line – caused the most dramatic shift in the war’s momentum since its early weeks.
In a video address, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian troops had ‘liberated dozens of settlements’ and reclaimed more than 385 square miles of territory in the east and south in the past week alone.
Zelensky posted a video in which Ukrainian soldiers said they had captured the eastern town of Balakliia, which lies along a stretch of front stretching south of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city.
Moscow’s forces continued to fire back on Friday. A Russian air strike hit a hospital in Ukraine’s northeastern region of Sumy this morning, destroying the building and wounding people, the region’s governor said.
War: A soldier poses on the steps of what appears to be a government building. Holding his weapon on the air, he is beaming from ear-to-ear. At his feet, a Russian tri-colour and red Soviet Union flag both lie in tatters while above him, the yellow and blue of a Ukrainian flag can be seen on the building
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