By Eric Vandenbroeck and co-workers

Secret Train And A Government Plane: How Zelenskiy Made His High-Security Trip To The US.

Initially, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the front-line city of Bakhmut, where Ukrainian and Russian forces have fought a fierce, months-long battle.He met troops and handed out awards to soldiers.

Ukrainian soldiers prepare barricades in Bakhmut, which has become the epicenter of attacks from the private military company Wagner; artillery bombardments and Wagner Group mercenaries have besieged the strategic town where the civilian population has been reduced to 10% of pre-war levels, and fighting has been likened to WWI.

For months, Bakhmut has been a critical target for Russian forces in the eastern Donetsk region and has been badly damaged.

However, Ukrainian forces have been able to hold back the advance. The visit was a significant show of defiance - and a demonstration of support for Ukrainian troops engaged in some of the fiercest battles in recent weeks.

Today is the 300th day since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar, who also visited Bakhmut, wrote on Facebook: "What are 300 days in our more than a 300-year struggle for liberation from Russia!

But how did President Zelensky next get to Washington?

Zelensky's journey to Washington DC began with an overnight train to Poland before boarding a US Air Force plane, reportedly supported by a Nato spy plane and an F-15 fighter jet.

Reports of the visit to Washington began circulating early this week. Still, it wasn't confirmed until early Wednesday morning when US officials felt confident that Ukraine's leader was safe en route to the US capital.

Unsurprisingly, no official information about the journey was released - security is tight around presidential visits even during peacetime, but for a wartime leader, the risks are more significant still.

With the threat of Russian missiles making air travel over Ukraine too risky,  Zelensky appears to have taken a secretive train ride through Ukraine to Poland, where he was spotted early on Wednesday at a railway station in the border town of Przemysl.

Pictures from Polish TV showed an entourage, including Zelensky walking along a platform with a blue-yellow Ukrainian train in the background. The group then got into a convoy of waiting cars, including black Chevrolet Suburbans - a favorite model of the US government.

Many Western leaders and officials have traveled by train to visit  Zelensky in Kyiv, but this was his first time abroad since Russia's war began.

Not long afterward, flight data showed a US Air Force Boeing C-40B - thought to be transporting  Zelensky - taking off from Rzeszow airport some 80km (50 miles) to the west.

The plane headed northwest toward the United Kingdom, but before it entered the airspace above the North Sea, a Nato spy plane scanned the area. The sea is known to be patrolled by Russian submarines.

And a US F-15 fighter jet, which took off from a base in England, escorted  Zelensky's flight for part of its journey.

Finally, around noon in Washington - nearly 10 hours after take-off and many more hours of travel for the Ukrainian president - the plane landed near Washington.

On arrival, he has given Secret Service protection - as is the case for all visiting heads of state - but Zelensky's status as leader of a country at war with Russia meant security officials were being extra-vigilant.

"We are very cognisant that Russia has assets in this country and might try to do something," one senior official told ABC News. "We know what is at stake."

Despite the concerns, the visit appeared to pass smoothly. On Thursday, he stopped briefly in Poland on his way home to meet his counterpart, Andrzej Duda. And by Friday, he was back at his desk in Kyiv, posting a short video on Telegram: "We are working towards victory," he said.

Upon arrival, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks with the Ukrainian ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova.

Zelenski next traveled by motorcade to Blair House, the presidential guest house along Pennsylvania Avenue, and after freshening up from his trip, went to the nearby White House, where he was greeted by President Joe Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden.

Rather than a suit and tie, Zelenskiy wore his signature army green sweater and cargo pants, a reminder that he came directly from a war zone.

At the White House, Zelenskiy held talks with Biden and his top national security aides before participating in a joint news conference with Biden in the East Room, decked out with holiday decorations.

Zelensky’s less than 12-hour visit came together largely over the past two weeks after the two leaders discussed it in an 11 December phone call. The US official said that the White House extended a formal invitation three days later. Zelensky accepted the invitation last Friday, and the visit was confirmed on Sunday.

 

 

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