EP52 - Death drones, prayers for dad & living with the dark (Oct 24-28)

From the window of his apartment in Kyiv, 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.
 
EP52 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