One woman whose husband was in captivity attended a #POW exchange.

“There was a Ukrainian #soldier who was given a chocolate bar…I watched him unwrap it, hold it to his face, close his eyes and slowly breathe in the smell,” she said quietly. “It still gives me goosebumps."

At the time, her husband was still in captivity, but after a few months she received a call from the Coordinating Headquarters, the governmental body responsible for issues relating to #pows She was told that he had been returned.

But not all have been so lucky.

#Russia deliberately delays the negotiations, he explains.

Russia "knows #Ukraine has a manpower shortage...and a good percentage of #POWs will go back into the fight.”

So when the negotiators finally sit face to face, it’s crucial for them to play their cards right.

NEWS OF THE DAY:

A Ukrainian settlement has been lost to Russian control, according to a Ukr special forces unit. Dozens of square miles have now been seized by Rus forces, the NYT reports and more than 4,000 are trying to evacuate from the region and avoid the combat.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/11/world/europe/ukraine-russia-kharkiv.html

KREMLIN CLAIMS NINE VILLAGES CAPTURED: The Russian government – known to lie – has named a number of villages that it said it had now captured, along the Ukraine-Russia border in the Kharkiv region, according to The Telegraph.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/05/12/russia-ukraine-zelensky-putin-war-latest-news-kharkiv/

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REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK:

If you are reading this on Sunday, I am about to go to my eighth driving test.

Completing the test itself isn’t difficult – it consists of 40 minutes of driving with some parking and some driving maneuvers, but the reasons you can fail the test are endless.

To put it mildly, I have had a streak of bad luck with my driving tests.

My first test was canceled, I couldn’t take my third test because my tires were worn, and for my fifth test, I left my license at home as I was leaving the house — although that is arguably not bad luck.

I will admit that I don’t really have any excuse for not passing the second, fourth, sixth or seventh times I took it – apart from the fact I am just not very good at driving.

But that’s not from a lack of effort.

I started taking lessons last year and became obsessed with passing. But I learnt you really can’t rush learning to drive, after my test was cut short after 15 minutes, because I was, according to my examiner, “a threat to public safety.”

From January to June last year I lived at home in the #UK and took driving lessons constantly in the hopes that I would be able to move to Ukraine with a license.

But after my 6th attempt, I needed a break and went to Ukraine without a license.

I got some driving practice in #Kharkiv to help with my friend's charity KHARPP that does some of the most effective work I have seen repairing homes and giving necessary #aid to villages in the Kharkiv region only a few km from the #Russian border.

But driving in Kharkiv is pretty different.

The potholes caused by explosions and in some parts active fighting mean that drivers are constantly swerving. By the time you get back to driving in Kyiv or elsewhere, you’ve forgotten to keep checking the rearview mirror.

Driving at night in #Kharkiv is even more of a nightmare.

There are barely any road markings and many of the road signs were torn down to confuse the #Russians advancing into Kharkiv in 2022. The GPS doesn't work because the #Ukrainian forces spoof the #gps

There are also constant power cuts which mean that, in the winter, you find yourself driving in complete darkness after 3pm.

And the other problem is land mines.

The actual road is usually safe, but with Ukraine now having more landmines than any country in the world, pulling over is not always a safe option. You are frequently told if you need to stop – stay on the tarmac.

Strewn around Kharkiv, in the third year of this war, there are blown up, rusted cars along the side of the road, eerie reminders of what might be hidden under the earth.

But for now I am still driving along Cambridge’s picturesque winding country roads in my mom's car and trying to understand what went wrong with my forward park in the supermarket parking lot…

I have been in the UK for the last few weeks preparing for Monday 13th April 7.03 am when I will be making my eighth and hopefully last attempt to pass my driving test.

Wish me luck!