In Poland combat stress bleeds into Ilyas’ peaceful surrounds,
before he steels himself to say goodbye to his family and return to Ukraine.
In Kyiv, Independence Day is marked for Seva not by traditional marching bands but a concerning phone call from his sister in Dnipro.
This week, Oksana is away.

BACKGROUND

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 August 2022, Ilyas is back living in the family apartment in Kyiv and working, in part, for the Ukrainian government on various 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.

EP21 diary entries were recorded using WhatsApp voice note.
 
From the producers of Sky News’ multi-award winning series – StoryCast.
 
Producer Rob Mulhern
Editing Paul Stanworth
Digital Promotion David Chipakupaku