It was a covert operation to get New Zealand's first government minister into the heart of Ukraine.
A fairly emotional politician, Defence Minister Peeni Henare held back tears as he spoke to me about being on the ground for the first time.
At the wall of remembrance in Kyiv, Henare reached out several times, gently touching the faces of those who had died fighting for their country.
"Touching the wall is about connecting our spirit from home and our ancestors, to those who have been lost here," he said.
But it was in the city of Irpin, one of the first cities liberated after the Russian invasion in February, that really brought it home for Henare.
He stood where buildings once stood, children had once played, and homes were once lived in.
"Indiscriminate destruction," he said as he put his hand across the bullet holes. "It just makes me sad."
The ruins reminded him of the Christchurch earthquake and how long it took the city to rebuild. This is far worse.
"I asked them how many people lived here and they said 100,000. Within a matter of weeks they'd evacuated 95 per cent. But as they look to rebuilding one can only ask 'Where are those families now?'" Henare said.
This whole trip has been a highly covert operation. We were brought over from Poland on an overnight train and the 10 hours on the ground have been tightly managed with high security. Many aspects we cannot report on.
Ukraine is still under constant attack from Russian missiles and tensions are heightened, especially as earlier this week Poland was hit for the first time.
While Ukraine has had high-profile visitors before, this was a first for New Zealand – no government minister has come before.
These meetings are important. Ukraine needs to ensure it continues to get support not just from NATO countries but allies like New Zealand, too.
It's also important for New Zealand to understand fully what's happening on the ground here. Being on the other side of the world can be hard for that sometimes, and New Zealand needs to understand, especially if it looks to extend and expand its support to Ukraine.
Henare said he had a special relationship with his Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksii Reznikov.
They'd been talking online for some time now and when they met they exchanged gifts; New Zealand giving a wooden patu, and Ukraine handing back a special coin.
Henare and Reznikov embraced after their meeting. It was not a normal exchange for two diplomatic defence ministers, but Henare told me Ukraine does politics like New Zealand does, through relationships.
He said Ukraine sees New Zealand as having an influence in the Pacific region.
Being here, you realise just how cold this winter will be and with that, the problems that will arise if Russia continues to take out key infrastructure and leave Ukrainians without power.
Expect New Zealand to look at giving more help in that area, particularly over the coming months.
From meeting Ukrainian soldiers in the UK to being on the ground in Kyiv, Henare hasn't stopped, saying, "You just can't get this from reading a report".
It's now his job to bring back everything he's seen to the Prime Minister and his Cabinet colleagues, to make them understand what's truly at stake.
SHARE ME