Ukraine War Diaries: EP43 - Strollers, sacrifice & the Spring offensive (Jan 30-3 Feb)

Now more than half-way through the winter, and more than 11 months since his family fled the country, Ilyas makes peace with the realisation that his eldest son is successfully assimilating into life in Poland, a re-location forced upon his family by the Russian invasion.

In Kyiv, conversations with his comrades on the front line forces Seva to yet again match the odds of mounting Russian pressure against the Ukrainian need for ever greater Western firepower.

Meanwhile, amid growing fears over a Russian Spring offensive - and the prospect of a major military push against Kyiv - Oksana redoubles her efforts to cherish special moments with her loved ones.

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 February 2023, Ilyas is back living in the family apartment in Kyiv.

Seva, 41, 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.

EP43 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
Archive: Simon Windsor
Digital: David Chipakupaku