When I woke up this morning in Vladivostok, I realized my time in the eastern part of Russia was finished. I got online and bought a ticket to Moscow, then rushed to the airport to catch the 8-hour flight. There were quite a few soldiers checking in on the same flight.

After arriving in Moscow, I got on the express train going into the city. Once on the train, all the soldiers piled in after me, some of them sitting in the empty seats next to and all around me. Using the Google Translate phone app, we had quite a conversation. They were on their way to Ukraine. When the conversation turned to the subject of conflict between countries and they asked whose side I was on, they all nodded in agreement when I responded that I don’t confuse politics with the individual people anywhere, and that’s why I don’t take sides. When it was time for me to get off the train, I think it meant something to them that I wished them all the very best possible. At the very least, it meant something to me. These guys brought me closer to what’s taking place in Ukraine and made it even more real.

This is Badia, Kiril and Sergey with me: