With its skies and airports shut down since the February 2022 invasion, the only way to get in and around Ukraine is by car and by train. And the country is vast: getting to Kharkiv, for example, is the equivalent of flying to Boston and then driving to Chicago. If you did the drive straight from the Poland airport, it would take about 20 hours.

In covering this war, the days are not just intense, they’re long… full of dull, hypnotic hours on the road. Which means proper sit-down hot meals are a luxury; most of the time we grab what we can as we go.

On this recent trip we had a pleasant surprise when shooting with a Special Forces Unit of the Border Guards: platters full of open-faced sandwiches and coffee were set out in the training barracks.

Smoked salmon, lettuce, and buttered baguette; soft, fatty slices of ham scattered with arugula; and slightly spicy Ukrainian sausage piled with pickles. With typical Ukrainian hospitality, the commander of the unit begged us to join them for a proper lunch, but another epic drive beckoned and we sadly had to pass.

There is still a curfew in effect in Ukraine, typically from midnight-5am but longer in the areas closer to active fighting. Most shops and restaurants, in order to keep their employees from breaking the rules, operate on slightly truncated hours. Our suburban lodge in the Kharkiv area was no different, and since we had to hit the road before their employees arrived to set out breakfast, they packed us pre-made breakfast boxes the night before.

Rye bread with butter, two hard boiled eggs, and a handful of syrnyky, thick little pancakes made of sweet cottage cheese, flour and egg. On the side, some sour cream and a runny honey/jam compote to smear on top. Everything was cold, of course, but it still managed to be hearty.

Since the beginning of the invasion Ukraine’s incredible gas stations have managed to keep this country running, somehow staying stocked with fuel, water, food and hot coffee for the duration. Every few hours on the road we stop at one of the main branded stations (OKKO or WOG) for a hit of caffeine, a warm croissant, and the best thing to happen to the hot dog since the invention of the corn dog on a stick.

Here, they call them French hot dogs –basically a hollowed out soft baguette with an opening at only one end. The cashier squirts a variety of sauces inside (ketchup, spicy mustard, mayo), then inserts the hot dog or spicy sausage, jiggles it up and down to evenly distribute the sauce, and hands it to the customer. It’s delicious, it doesn’t make a mess, and it can be eaten with one hand while driving!  

Writing this now from the back of a car headed out of Kyiv… I’m making myself hungry. Maybe it’s time for a pitstop.