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Andriy led with Kiran and I following , and by now we were all working well together on our communication . There were moments when we were lulled into forgetting the war with the beautiful Ukrainian countryside gliding by our BMWs devouring the kilometres as we sat right in their sweet spot around 110 kilometres per hour with plenty of power for passing . This was the furthest Kiran had pushed east during his times in Ukraine and we both knew the situation would get a lot harder . For now , though , we enjoyed the calm , the occasional small towns , and cities we passed , and a clear blue sky framing out the bright yellow sunflower fields we rode through .
With traffic picking up , and the highway moving through more densely populated urban areas now on the outskirts of Kyiv , it was the smell that hit me first . And then the sight of the burned , twisted wreckage that was once a gas station , a house , a supermarket , or factory . The random nature of a perfectly intact row of buildings next to gaping , black , charred holes that were once shops or houses was just as impossible to process as the thought that these were civilian buildings with no military value . And then we moved back into brightly coloured modern apartment complexes and thriving businesses with no sign of destruction as we closed in on the city centre .
Kiran had found us a couple of small apartments for the night within walking distance from the city centre as Andriy left to stay with a friend . Located in a Soviet era building , there was a foreboding nature to entering the poorly lit building , navigating the tiny elevator , and working our way through four security doors before being in our habitation . As night had fallen , and curfew was about to be upon us fast , we quickly headed out to a small taco stand and scarfed down some dinner before regrouping in my apartment . Sitting with the sound of the air alert siren howling across the city , we were uneasy as Kiran said he thought we ’ d be safe in the centre of the city . We certainly hadn ’ t seen any sign of Russian missiles making it through since the massive destruction on the outer ring of the city .
I ’ m not sure what sort of sleep I got with so many new , and unsettling , experiences filling my head , and a night filled with sirens , but I must have slept some as it was broad daylight when I woke . A coffee shop within walking distance from our flats served hot , fresh coffee and we were soon joined by Andriy . Again , it felt
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