Our expert answers your questions about Ukraine

As of August 2023, there are no direct transport links between Donetsk and other parts of Ukraine controlled by the Ukrainian government. The only way a real person can leave Donetsk is to go to Russia at first, there are regular buses available, for example, to Rostov-on-Don.

From Russia, it is possible to return to Ukraine. On August 5, 2023, a checkpoint was opened on the Ukrainian-Russian border in Sumy Oblast, which can be used by Ukrainians to enter Ukraine. Some info about it.

As we receive similar requests almost every day, our advice is not to send any help to a person in Ukraine, especially in parts of Ukraine controlled by Russia, before you are absolutely sure that this person is real. At least talk to this person numerous times directly via something like Skype, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc. with a webcam turned on. A real person can do it, a fake one will refuse to do it. No photos can be trusted.

As of June 2023, Berdyansk is controlled by Russia. There is no direct transport links to other parts of Ukraine and in turn to Poland available. The only way a real person from this city can leave it is to go to Russia at first. From there, it is possible to go to the Baltic countries, Georgia, Turkey.

Don't send any help to any person in Ukraine before you are absolutely sure that this person is real, especially when it is about a person from parts of Ukraine controlled by Russia. In our experience, they are almost always scammers.

Yes, there is no direct transport connection between Donetsk and Kyiv, since such a route would have to cross the front line. So the only way is to first come to Russia, for example, to Rostov-on-Don. However, there is no direct communication between Russia and Ukraine now and the person needs to go through the Baltic countries, which can also be fraught with difficulties.

So it might be worth suggesting a meeting, for example, in Istanbul, Turkey, since there are still flights between Russia and Turkey. Such an offer will of course be a great excuse to ask you for money for a flight, but our recommendation is no to do it in any case before you meet in person. The chance that this is not a real person is very high, especially this risk increases when it is about the war zone.

Since Ukraine doesn't recognize dual citizenship, the fact that she received US citizenship may be used as a reason for depriving her of her Ukrainian citizenship. In practice, this is done very rarely, so most likely she still has Ukrainian citizenship. Perhaps it will be easier for her to visit Ukraine as an American citizen, because the citizens of the US are eligible to enter Ukraine on a visa-free basis if their stay doesn't exceed 90 days in 180 days period.

Only if this time is not enough, she should think about visiting Ukraine as a citizen of Ukraine without restrictions, but for this she will need to get an international passport via the embassy and it is possible that in the process they will find out that she is a citizen of the US. It is not clear what this will ultimately lead to.

Yes, citizens of Ukraine can travel from Donetsk to Kyiv, to cross the border of the conflict zone, a person needs to have a pass issued free of charge online by the Security Service of Ukraine; travel by passenger car is allowed. There are also regular buses running from Donetsk to Kyiv, the ticket price is equivalent to about 30 USD.

For a real person, it is not a problem to come from Donetsk to Kyiv. The main rule when communicating with any person claiming living in the conflict zone, don't send any help until you meet this person in Ukraine, or at least regularly communicate online with a webcam turned on.

People living in the conflict zone, including Lugansk, can leave it but they need to get special passes. They are issued for free online. There are regular buses running from Lugansk to Kyiv, the price is about 20-30 USD.

As we receive a lot of similar requests, our advice is not to send any help to a person in Ukraine, especially in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, before you are absolutely sure that this person is real (at least talk to this person several times via Skype with a webcam turned on or better meet this person in Ukraine). Otherwise you are doing it on your risk.

Yes, it is true. Here is the quote from the official announcement of the evacuation: "...in connection with the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the city of Pripyat, an unfavorable radiation situation develops. The Party and Soviet bodies and military units take the necessary measures. However, in order to ensure the complete safety of people, and especially of children, there is a need to conduct temporary evacuation of city residents to the settlements of the Kiev region."

There were several reasons for declaring temporary evacuation. Firstly, to prevent a possible panic that could begin if people realized that they were leaving their homes forever together with all their belongings. At that time, Pripyat was one of the richest cities in the USSR in terms of living standards of residents.

Secondly, it was not completely clear at that moment, just several days after the accident, if it would be possible to clean the city and how serious the level of radioactive contamination was in Pripyat. After the evacuation, in interviews, the participants of dosimetric groups who measured the level of radiation in the city expressed confidence that soon the city would be cleaned and people would return back.

You can fly to Donetsk international airport (there are direct London-Donetsk-London flights available). The schedule of buses running from Donetsk to Antratsyt. The distance between these two cities is only 129 km, so you can go by taxi too, it will be faster, more comfortable but more expensive.

There are not a lot of hotels in Antratsyt, so I would recommend to stay in Donetsk, and visit Antratsyt just during day time. We have some info about quite good Donetsk hotels on our page about the city. You can use the following service to translate the sites from Russian/Ukrainian if necessary.