Would you travel to Ukraine currently?.

[Lostearring]

I have a group of friends who travel around Europe and UK to compete in events. Usually places less than 2.5 hours away, about 5/6 times a year. One of the women in the group is Ukrainian and 5 years ago we did an event in Kyiv, she and her family were amazing hosts. What happened there is devastating to see when you recognise the landmarks, but obviously so much harder for her. Her brother and father are still there and unable to leave.

She has visited recently. You can't fly into Ukraine, but fly to Poland and get a train to the border where taxi firms will collect. She was able to see her relatives in a safe part to the West of the country. It's a huge country and this is 100s of miles from the fighting.

She is keen for us to go to that part of Ukriane, by the same route for an event in the spring. Most others in the group are really keen. It would be amazing to go, but I'm not so sure. Would you?

No. I can understand going there to visit relatives, like your friend does, but for an event/hobby absolutely not.

No. I would go if I had relatives to visit or business connections that would benefit the Ukrainians, but pleasure/social? No.

No, I personally wouldn’t travel to a country at war for a social event, even if I would be hundreds of miles from a war zone. I’m overcautious these days and also the journey sounds like more of a faff than I’d like.

However, there’s an argument to be made that their economy is suffering massively from the war, and so boosting their tourist industry in an area that’s unlikely to be unsafe is a good idea. When I was younger and more adventurous, I went to Suva in Fiji just after they had an unsuccessful coup in 2000, despite Foreign Office advice being to avoid. It was fine and the Fijians were happy to have tourists spending money. I’m aware an unsuccessful coup isn’t the same as a war, though.

Yes, that's what I'm thinking. FCO advice is against all travel, which I think invalidates insurance, so I'm sure the rest of the group will decline once they get over their initial excitement.

She is allowed to go into Ukraine because she is a Ukrainian passport holder.

Ukraine is being strict about who else is allowed to enter the country, because they don't want a bunch of war tourists. So I believe you need a visa to enter on a British passport currently and to state the purpose of your visa. .

This is quite apart from the Foreign Office advice which says 'dont travel'. Which means you wouldn't get travel insurance under a normal policy. You'd need a specialist warzone policy.

All this talk is very nice, but frankly clueless. You aren't going to be able to go even if you wanted to.

That would be good news for me, then I don't have to be negative nelly!

I just checked, British passport holders don't need a visa.

No, I would not travel to a country that is at war for my own leisure purposes.
Assuming you are British, the foreign office advises against all travel there, so aside from the risk, you will not get any insurance and be stuffed if anything happens to you.
On a practical level, you would be there, using resources unnecessarily, energy, food, etc, that someone else would benefit from who is forced to stay in the country.
Different circumstances for a Ukrainian national to visit to reconnect with family. As a tourist, you would be stupid to go.