EP63 - Dnipro, despair & waiting for deliverance (Jan 16-20)

Seva has a difficult conversation with his sister after a Russian ballistic missile targets her Dnipro neighbourhood, killing 45 people and injuring dozens more.

In Kyiv, Oksana shares some of the stories that have penetrated the soul of the nation and reflects on how the attack is impacting the Ukrainian psyche.

Meanwhile, a conversation between Ilyas and his grandmother - who grew up in the aftermath of World War II - shifts his focus to those ageing citizens who are struggling to cope with war.

OUR DIARISTS
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.

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.

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

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.

EP63 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
Archive: Simon Windsor