Ukraine scientists navigate lockdown to reach Antarctica

Kiev (AFP) - Yuriy Otruba was preparing for his sixth scientific expedition to Antarctica when the coronavirus pandemic hit, shutting borders, grounding flights and locking down countries he needed to travel through.After repeated trips since 2009, the 34-year-old Ukrainian scientist feared this year's journey would be impossible due to strict lockdown measures imposed throughout the world to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.The journey from Kiev to the Akademik Vernadsky research base on Galindez Island in the Antarctic usually lasts a week. Yet it took Otruba and his team of 10 a number of fals...