Biden's train ride to Kyiv

President Biden’s trip to Kyiv involved an elaborate three-part journey which including a flight in Air Force One from Washington to a military base in Poland, a long overnight train ride into Ukraine and an armoured motorcade in the city. With security the biggest challenge for the president’s unannounced visit, US Air Force fighter jets from Lask in central Poland mounted a combat air patrol along the Polish/Ukrainian border to monitor all potential airborne threats as his train crossed the frontier. The Ukrainian national railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, provided the train which crossed the border at Przemysl, taking more than ten hours to reach Kyiv. The train service which has been used by numerous western political leaders and other VIPs since the Russian invasion nearly a year ago, has been labelled “Iron Diplomacy” to signify the protection given to presidents and prime ministers wanting to shake the hand of President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Ukrainian capital. The full details of the long journey from Washington to Kyiv were kept secret. But Biden took off on board Air Force One from Joint Andrews base outside Washington at 4.15am, eastern standard time on Sunday. Biden was not due to begin his pre-announced visit to Warsaw to meet with his Polish counterpart until later on Monday. So the presidential aircraft would have flown to a Polish military base where US Air Force fighter jets are deployed , before being taken to board the train to Kyiv. The special VIP train which is not armoured to withstand aerial attacks arrived in Kyiv via Lviv at 8am local time where he was welcomed by Bridget Brink, US ambassador to Ukraine. The US embassy has a Marine security guard detachment which would have been involved in protecting Biden during his walkabout in Kyiv, as well as his own Secret Service detail and Ukrainian special forces.