Europe’s longest motorway is so long that it approaches the border of China and theoretically allows people to travel from the French coast through the frontlines of the war in Ukraine.
The E40 European Highway is a brainchild of the United Nations conceived in the years following World War Two that follows ancient silk routes and was intended to serve as a lifeline for vital postwar regeneration.
While the route took some time to complete, the E-series road is now one of the longest in the world, spanning dozens of nations and nearly 5,000 miles.
The route takes nearly two months to complete, and thousands of curious travellers have long wanted to brave the E40 thanks to its access to some of Europe’s most unforgettable sights.
In 2013, an artist duo did just that and took nearly two months to travel down the road in its entirety from the UK.
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The E40 starts in Calais and, over the staggering 4,971 miles, passes through Belgium, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan.
The final stop on the stretch of motorway is Ridder, a city in Kazakhstan approximately 170 miles from the Chinese border.
In total, the journey from tip to tail on the E40 takes approximately 54 days, as Helen Kirwan and Simon Pruciak discovered a decade ago.
The two artists embarked on a car-only route down the route’s length in 2013 for their “Image of the Road” research project.
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They set out to explore the road in a car from the English coast to explore the “dynamic transnational and multi-cultural web of connections and disconnections” while taking pictures and videos.
The artists didn’t try another mode of transport until they finished the European leg of their trip when they hopped on a 30-hour train from Kazakhstan to eastern Xinjiang in China.
In the years following their trip through Europe, the landscape surrounding the E40 has rapidly changed, especially following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Travellers could effectively utilise the E40 to travel from Dorset to both Kyiv and Kharkiv, the latter city currently being hammered by Russian missiles.
Russian soldiers allegedly committed war crimes in the towns of Bucha and Irpin, which lie just off the highway.
The significant activity along the E40 during the conflict has led Stuart Ramsay, Sky News’ chief correspondent, to dub the E40 and nearby M06 a “killing ground for Russian soldiers that Ukraine will never forget”.
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