Road to War: Ukraine on the Eve of Russia's Invasion | Foreign Correspondent

As Putin's army rolls in, Ukraine is fighting back. In the weeks before the invasion, we visit Ukraine and the Russian-backed separatist region to understand the causes of what could be Europe's biggest conflict since WW2.

The world is watching on in shock as Putin’s army invades Ukraine. Despite months of Russian military build-up on Ukraine’s borders, many thought Putin would never dare to try and crush his neighbour’s independence with military might.

Now these two countries, with a shared history spanning centuries, are fighting each other in the streets of Ukrainian cities. How did it come to this? In the weeks leading up to the invasion, Foreign Correspondent explores both sides of this dangerous conflict.

Reporter David Lipson travels across Ukraine to find a country whose identity has been forged in the heat of the eight-year war between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists occupying regions in the east.

Former Russia correspondent Eric Campbell works with a local crew to gain rare access inside the separatist region. He speaks with locals whose loyalties lies with Russia and who believe Ukrainians are Nazis.

Starting in the capital Kyiv, Lipson meets a young mother who’s bearing the scars of the ongoing war in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine has lost some 14 000 lives in the conflict that began in 2014.

“At that moment we already understood who the enemy was and we just wanted to stop him from going further into our land,” says Viktoria, a former soldier, whose partner was killed by a landmine. “I am sure this war has definitely changed the country.”

As Lipson travels east towards the frontline, he discovers just how much the country has changed. Close to the separatist region, there are destroyed villages, their residents living under frequent shelling. One farmer has been cut off from his farmland. The young have fled. The old remain.

“My heart aches every time I turn on TV, for our soldiers. What did we do to deserve this?” cries one old woman, who is caring for her blind husband. “I was born in 1942, during the war, and I have to witness it again, the ninth year in a row.”

In Mariupol on the east coast, also close to the frontline, Lipson finds a city increasingly divided. Pro-Russians are suspicious of the Ukrainian government, pro-Ukrainians are preparing to take up arms.

Eric Campbell’s team takes us inside the separatist region of Donetsk. We meet a young woman who says she will never live under Ukrainian rule. “We can’t live in the same country as the Nazis. We can’t forgive all that we experienced through the years’, says Alexandra.

Days later, she evacuates into Russia, as Putin’s propaganda machine bombards the region with stories of Ukrainian saboteurs and aggression.

The courage and determination of ordinary Ukrainians to stand and fight the Russian invaders has stunned the world. But will it be enough hold back the Russian military?

About Foreign Correspondent:
Foreign Correspondent is the prime-time international public affairs program on Australia's national broadcaster, ABC-TV. We produce half-hour duration in-depth reports for broadcast across the ABC's television channels and digital platforms. Since 1992, our teams have journeyed to more than 170 countries to report on war, natural calamity and social and political upheaval – through the eyes of the people at the heart of it all.

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