by Thinus Ferreira

The weekly investigative magazine show Carte Blanche on M-Net (DStv 101) is reporting from Ukraine for tonight’s edition at 19:00 to witness first-hand the devastation after Russia’s unprovoked invasion and war with its neighbouring country. 

“We agonised over
sending someone to Ukraine: why this war and not others? What access are we
likely to get? Is it worth the risk? Do South Africans care? Some questions
were easier to answer than others,” says John Webb, Carte Blanche executive reporter.

“But, having despatched a producer and cameraman
to the region, our challenge now is to tell a compelling and relevant story.
And, without losing sight of the immediate human cost, examining the
catastrophic impact on global food and fuel pricing should bring home this
war’s many unexpected consequences,” he says.

Anina Peens is in Ukraine on Sunday night as presenter and producer as Carte Blanche counts the human and economic cost of Russia’s invasion which will enter its sixth week next week. 

Anina Peens joined a group of volunteers to take aid supplies into Ukraine, and it was a long and uncertain journey.

Despite promises of peace, Russian air and
ground attacks remain unrelenting despite Ukraine’s commitment not to join
NATO. Meanwhile, the African Development Bank has issued a warning of a
large-scale food crisis as natural gas, wheat, and fertiliser prices
skyrocket.

“What has life become in the small villages where Ukrainians attempt normality even as their homes and country have become a war zone?” Carte Blanche asks.