Russell Brand: On Trial

Alone in his apartment in Kyiv, memories of Christmas past come flooding back to Ilyas. Can he find a way to escape the blitz-like conditions and be reunited with his wife and two sons in Poland?

OUR DIARISTS

Ilyas is an IT specialist and married father who fled from Kyiv to Lviv shortly after the war started. His wife Natalia, and two young sons are taking refuge in Poland. As of December 2022, Ilyas is back living in the family apartment in Kyiv.

Seva, 40, is a company CEO and husband to Oksana. Before the war, he travelled across Europe for business. Now, he makes regular supply drops of medical aid and rations to Ukrainian troops on the front line in Eastern Ukraine. He’s originally from a small village near Dnipro.

Oksana, 35, works in overseas education. She lives with her husband, Seva, in an apartment complex in central Kyiv. Many of Oksana’s closest friends have left the country to begin new lives in Europe. Some may never return. She’s continues to try and make a life there.

Ukraine War Diaries uses first-person audio, recorded on the ground in Ukraine, to give an intimate day-to-day perspective of life in a war zone.

EP37 diary entries were recorded using WhatsApp voice note.

From the producers of Sky News’ multi-award winning series – StoryCast.
Producer: Rob Mulhern
Editor: Paul Stanworth
Digital Promotion: David Chipakupaku

Having left Kyiv on the day of a devastating Russian air attack in October, Oksana makes an emotional return.
Ilyas, illustrates how he - and other Ukrainians - are using their smart phones to stay one step ahead of enemy bombing raids.
And Seva marks a national day of military celebration.

OUR DIARISTS
 
Ilyas is an IT specialist and married father who fled from Kyiv to Lviv shortly after the war started. His wife Natalia, and two young sons are taking refuge in Poland.
As of December 2022, Ilyas is back living in the family apartment in Kyiv.
 
Seva, 40, is a company CEO and husband to Oksana. Before the war, he travelled across Europe for business. Now, he makes regular supply drops of medical aid and rations to Ukrainian troops on the front line in Eastern Ukraine. He’s originally from a small village near Dnipro.
 
Oksana, 35, works in overseas education. She lives with her husband, Seva, in an apartment complex in central Kyiv. 
Many of Oksana’s closest friends have left the country to begin new lives in Europe. Some may never return. She’s continues to try and make a life there.
 
Ukraine War Diaries uses first-person audio, recorded on the ground in Ukraine, to give an intimate day-to-day perspective of life in a war zone.
 
EP36 diary entries were recorded using WhatsApp voice note.
 
From the producers of Sky News’ multi-award winning series – StoryCast.
 
Producer: Rob Mulhern
Editor: Paul Stanworth
Digital Promotion: David Chipakupaku

Under siege in Kyiv, Ilyas endures his longest blackout.
Military volunteer, Seva, sources chainsaws for comrades in the east and in her mind, Oksana visits the rooftop of her apartment block to offer a god-like view of a Ukrainian capital under siege.
 
OUR DIARISTS
 
Ilyas is an IT specialist and married father who fled from Kyiv to Lviv shortly after the war started. His wife Natalia, and two young sons are taking refuge in Poland.
As of December 2022, Ilyas is back living in the family apartment in Kyiv.
 
Seva, 40, is a company CEO and husband to Oksana. Before the war, he travelled across Europe for business. Now, he makes regular supply drops of medical aid and rations to Ukrainian troops on the front line in Eastern Ukraine. He’s originally from a small village near Dnipro.
 
Oksana, 35, works in overseas education. She lives with her husband, Seva, in an apartment complex in central Kyiv. 
Many of Oksana’s closest friends have left the country to begin new lives in Europe. Some may never return. She’s continues to try and make a life there.
 
Ukraine War Diaries uses first-person audio, recorded on the ground in Ukraine, to give an intimate day-to-day perspective of life in a war zone.
 
EP57 diary entries were recorded using WhatsApp voice note.
 
From the producers of Sky News’ multi-award winning series – StoryCast.
 
Producer: Rob Mulhern
Editor: Paul Stanworth
Digital Promotion: David Chipakupaku

In the dark of Kyiv, Ilyas fears for the under-fire Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, knowing how the 1986 Chernobyl disaster continues to impact lives in Ukraine to this day. 
With new orders, military volunteer Seva, prepares to go on assignment in southern Ukraine, but not before an unexpected meeting with two soldiers involved in the recent liberation of Kherson.
And feeling helpless overseas, Oksana desperately tries to reach her family in the midst of yet another devastating missile attack.
 
OUR DIARISTS
 
Ilyas is an IT specialist and married father who fled from Kyiv to Lviv shortly after the war started. His wife Natalia, and two young sons are taking refuge in Poland.
As of November 2022, Ilyas is back living in the family apartment in Kyiv.
 
Seva, 40, is a company CEO and husband to Oksana. Before the war, he travelled across Europe for business. Now, he makes regular supply drops of medical aid and rations to Ukrainian troops on the front line in Eastern Ukraine. He’s originally from a small village near Dnipro.
 
Oksana, 35, works in overseas education. She lives with her husband, Seva, in an apartment complex in central Kyiv. 
Many of Oksana’s closest friends have left the country to begin new lives in Europe. Some may never return. She’s continues to try and make a life there.
 
Ukraine War Diaries uses first-person audio, recorded on the ground in Ukraine, to give an intimate day-to-day perspective of life in a war zone.
 
EP34 diary entries were recorded using WhatsApp voice note.
 
From the producers of Sky News’ multi-award winning series – StoryCast.
 
Producer: Rob Mulhern
Editor: Paul Stanworth
Digital Promotion: David Chipakupaku

On the road in freezing temperatures, military volunteer Seva, reflects on Russia’s latest mass attack on the Ukrainian energy network.
And looking out across a darkened Kyiv - after a Russian missile knocks out the power in his apartment block - the ramifications of winter become very real for Ilyas, but so too enemy soldiers.

OUR DIARISTS

Ilyas is an IT specialist and married father who fled from Kyiv to Lviv shortly after the war started. His wife Natalia, and two young sons are taking refuge in Poland.
As of November 2022, Ilyas is back living in the family apartment in Kyiv and working, in part, for the Ukrainian government on various IT projects.

Seva, 40, is a company CEO and husband to Oksana. Before the war, he travelled across Europe for business. Now, he makes regular supply drops of medical aid and rations to Ukrainian troops on the front line in Eastern Ukraine. He’s originally from a small village near Dnipro.

Oksana, 35, works in overseas education. She lives with her husband, Seva, in an apartment complex in central Kyiv and has remained in the Ukrainian capital since the war started. 
Many of Oksana’s closest friends have left the country to begin new lives in Europe. Some may never return. She’s determined to stay.

Ukraine War Diaries uses first-person audio, recorded on the ground in Ukraine, to give an intimate day-to-day perspective of life in a war zone.
 
EP33 diary entries were recorded using WhatsApp voice note.
 
From the producers of Sky News’ multi-award winning series – StoryCast.
 
Producer: Rob Mulhern
Editor: Paul Stanworth
Digital Promotion: David Chipakupaku

In Kyiv, a sudden restaurant blackout forces Ilyas to consider the reality of winter in a city without power and increasingly isolated. 
Injured by an anti-tank grenade, Seva accompanies a close friend to one of Kyiv’s trauma units. 
Meanwhile, against the backdrop of conversations about a future evacuation, Oksana readies to return again to the Ukrainian capital.

OUR DIARISTS

Ilyas is an IT specialist and married father who fled from Kyiv to Lviv shortly after the war started. His wife Natalia, and two young sons are taking refuge in Poland.
As of November 2022, Ilyas is back living in the family apartment in Kyiv and working, in part, for the Ukrainian government on various IT projects.

Seva, 40, is a company CEO and husband to Oksana. Before the war, he travelled across Europe for business. Now, he makes regular supply drops of medical aid and rations to Ukrainian troops on the front line in Eastern Ukraine. He’s originally from a small village near Dnipro.

Oksana, 35, works in overseas education. She lives with her husband, Seva, in an apartment complex in central Kyiv and has remained in the Ukrainian capital since the war started. 
Many of Oksana’s closest friends have left the country to begin new lives in Europe. Some may never return. She’s determined to stay.

Ukraine War Diaries uses first-person audio, recorded on the ground in Ukraine, to give an intimate day-to-day perspective of life in a war zone.
 
EP32 diary entries were recorded using WhatsApp voice note.
 
From the producers of Sky News’ multi-award winning series – StoryCast.
 
Producer: Rob Mulhern
Editor: Paul Stanworth
Digital Promotion: David Chipakupaku

From his apartment in Kyiv, Ilyas watches and listens as Ukrainian air defence armoury targets yet another onslaught of Russian missiles.
Meanwhile, military volunteer, Seva, sets off on a lone assignment to the frontlines in Donetsk where his thinking is challenged by an embattled tank battalion.

OUR DIARISTS

Ilyas is an IT specialist and married father who fled from Kyiv to Lviv shortly after the war started. His wife Natalia, and two young sons are taking refuge in Poland.
As of November 2022, Ilyas is back living in the family apartment in Kyiv and working, in part, for the Ukrainian government on various IT projects.

Seva, 40, is a company CEO and husband to Oksana. Before the war, he travelled across Europe for business. Now, he makes regular supply drops of medical aid and rations to Ukrainian troops on the front line in Eastern Ukraine. He’s originally from a small village near Dnipro.

Oksana, 35, works in overseas education. She lives with her husband, Seva, in an apartment complex in central Kyiv and has remained in the Ukrainian capital since the war started. 
Many of Oksana’s closest friends have left the country to begin new lives in Europe. Some may never return. She’s determined to stay.

Ukraine War Diaries uses first-person audio, recorded on the ground in Ukraine, to give an intimate day-to-day perspective of life in a war zone.
 
EP31 diary entries were recorded using WhatsApp voice note.
 
From the producers of Sky News’ multi-award winning series – StoryCast.
 
Producer: Rob Mulhern
Editor: Paul Stanworth
Digital Promotion: David Chipakupaku

From the window of his Kyiv apartment, Ilyas witnesses a drone strike that results in the death of a pregnant woman and her husband.
On military assignment in Western Ukraine, Seva’s thoughts turn to his father who is about to undergo major surgery in a hospital within the compass of continued Russian strikes.
Meanwhile, Oksana readies to return to a Kyiv that looks set to be plunged further into darkness.

OUR DIARISTS

Ilyas is an IT specialist and married father who fled from Kyiv to Lviv shortly after the war started. His wife Natalia, and two young sons are taking refuge in Poland.
As of October 2022, Ilyas is back living in the family apartment in Kyiv and working, in part, for the Ukrainian government on various IT projects.

Seva, 40, is a company CEO and husband to Oksana. Before the war, he travelled across Europe for business. Now, he makes regular supply drops of medical aid and rations to Ukrainian troops on the front line in Eastern Ukraine. He’s originally from a small village near Dnipro.

Oksana, 35, works in overseas education. She lives with her husband, Seva, in an apartment complex in central Kyiv and has remained in the Ukrainian capital since the war started. 
Many of Oksana’s closest friends have left the country to begin new lives in Europe. Some may never return. She’s determined to stay.

Ukraine War Diaries uses first-person audio, recorded on the ground in Ukraine, to give an intimate day-to-day perspective of life in a war zone.
 
EP30 diary entries were recorded using WhatsApp voice note.
 
From the producers of Sky News’ multi-award winning series – StoryCast.
 
Producer: Rob Mulhern
Editor: Paul Stanworth
Digital Promotion: David Chipakupaku

After escaping Russia’s single biggest one-day attack on Kyiv, Oksana catches her breath in Madrid, where she tries to second guess what Vladimir Putin’s forces are going to do next?
Meanwhile, recording in the basement of his Kyiv apartment block during an air-raid, Ilyas outlines what he - and many Ukrainians - are being told in respect of a nuclear attack.

OUR DIARISTS

Oksana, 35, works in overseas education. She lives with her husband, Seva, in an apartment complex in central Kyiv and has remained in the Ukrainian capital since the war started. 
Many of Oksana’s closest friends have left the country to begin new lives in Europe. Some may never return. She’s determined to stay.

Ilyas is an IT specialist and married father who fled from Kyiv to Lviv shortly after the war started. His wife Natalia, and two young sons are taking refuge in Poland.
As of October 2022, Ilyas is back living in the family apartment in Kyiv and working, in part, for the Ukrainian government on various IT projects.

Seva, 40, is a company CEO and husband to Oksana. Before the war, he travelled across Europe for business. Now, he makes regular supply drops of medical aid and rations to Ukrainian troops on the front line in Eastern Ukraine. He’s originally from a small village near Dnipro.
 
Ukraine War Diaries uses first-person audio, recorded on the ground in Ukraine, to give an intimate day-to-day perspective of life in a war zone.
 
EP29 diary entries were recorded using WhatsApp voice note.
 
From the producers of Sky News’ multi-award winning series – StoryCast.
 
Producer: Rob Mulhern
Editor: Paul Stanworth
Digital Promotion: David Chipakupaku

In Kiev, Ilyas watches in horror as Russian rockets rain down on his city— the deadliest attack on the Ukrainian capital since the beginning of the war.
Having left for Poland just hours before, Oksana escapes the attack, only to find her exit route to Warsaw targeted by more enemy missiles.
Helpless, and on military assignment in Ireland, Seva takes stock of what’s to come.
And with the dust now settling somewhat in Kyiv, Ilyas returns to record a final reflection on one of the most significant week’s in the war.

OUR DIARISTS

Ilyas is an IT specialist and married father who fled from Kyiv to Lviv shortly after the war started. His wife Natalia, and two young sons are taking refuge in Poland.
As of October 2022, Ilyas is back living in the family apartment in Kyiv and working, in part, for the Ukrainian government on various IT projects.

Oksana, 35, works in overseas education. She lives with her husband, Seva, in an apartment complex in central Kyiv and has remained in the Ukrainian capital since the war started. 
Many of Oksana’s closest friends have left the country to begin new lives in Europe. Some may never return. She’s determined to stay.
 
Seva, 40, is a company CEO and husband to Oksana. Before the war, he travelled across Europe for business. Now, he makes regular supply drops of medical aid and rations to Ukrainian troops on the front line in Eastern Ukraine. He’s originally from a small village near Dnipro.
 
Ukraine War Diaries uses first-person audio, recorded on the ground in Ukraine, to give an intimate day-to-day perspective of life in a war zone.
 
EP28 diary entries were recorded using WhatsApp voice note.
 
From the producers of Sky News’ multi-award winning series – StoryCast.
 
Producer: Rob Mulhern
Editor: Paul Stanworth
Digital Promotion: David Chipakupaku