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TV Review: When survival expert Bear Grylls met President Zelensky in Ukraine

Bear Grylls met President Zelenskyy in Kyiv
Bear Grylls met President Zelenskyy in Kyiv Bear Grylls met President Zelenskyy in Kyiv

Bear Grylls meets President Zelensky, Channel 4, Tuesday at 8pm

One year on from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Bear Grylls has travelled to the war-torn country to meet its President, Volodymyr Zelensky.

He's also there to hear from the Ukrainian people as they continue to endure their winter of darkness.

The survival expert and television presenter is the latest celebrity to travel to Ukraine to meet with Zelensky and show support for the plight of those still in the country.

Just last week, it emerged that Pirates of the Carribean star Orlando Bloom had also met the president and praised the "incredibly stoic nature" of the Ukrainian people, urging Zelensky to "go win" the war.

Walking around Kiev, the destruction caused by 12 months of war and terror at the hands of the Russians is clear to see.

Grylls is seen at the start of the programme travelling through Poland towards the border in a van with his TV crew when he receives a call from Bruce, a fixer inside Ukraine. He warns of air strikes on Kyiv and says that intelligence suggests that the danger is imminent.

Despite this, once inside Kyiv, the adventurer surveys the major destruction as he meets with people still trying to live in the city.

There's Alina, a journalist, who gives Grylls an honest and thought-provoking perspective on life since the Russian tanks rolled in.

She tells of how her father, aged 56, had signed up to fight for his country, but has never returned home. Grylls draws on her story and tells of his own experience of losing his father.

"I lost my dad when I was younger," he said.

"His presence never leaves me. Your dad is never going to leave your shoulder."

Alina is stoic in her attitude to life now in her home country, but the fear she lives under is clear.

"If I should die today, then I will die today," she says.

"It’s hard to be scared every minute of your life."

Amid tears, she maintains that one day she will have her country back to what it once was.

"We will cry – after our victory," she says, adding: "And they will be tears of happiness."

Grylls' interview with Zelensky, who has been president since 2019, is shorter than expected – I suppose the man hasn't time to be walking the city with the presenter – but during their chat the pair visit a mobile centre where citizens charge their phones when the power goes down.

Surrounded by security personnel, the chat is limited, but Zelensky's resolve to continue the fight for victory is clear. He does, however, recognise the plight of many Ukrainians who have fled the country.

Their discussions allow Zelensky to not only talk about the price the people of Ukraine have had to pay at the hands of the Russians, but the personal impact it has had on his own family.

Since the war began, the president has been separated from his wife Olena, daughter Oleksandra and son, Kyrylo.

He talks about his nine-year-old son, who he says has found it "tough".

"He needs his father. You see the wet eyes of your son and understand he’s a child," he tells Grylls.

Grylls had said the programme was aimed at getting to know "the real guy behind the podium, actually what he (Zelensky) is like as a man".

That is not altogether true, as the interview is short and at times curtailed by the events around them.

But despite this and the inner turmoil Zelensky must be facing, his focus and resolve to continue to fight for Ukraine is abundantly clear.