Ukraine War Diaries: EP10 - Ilyas, Seva Oksana - our lives before the war (May 23-27)

It’s more than three months since Russian forces invaded Ukraine, changing millions of lives, including those of Ilyas Verdiev, Oksana and Seva Goshel, forever.In that time, Ilyas, Oksana and Seva have shared intimate insights into how war has redefined their priorities and their lives.But what did a typical day in their lives, and life in Ukraine, look like before the Russian invasion?This special episode features a Ukraine that never made the news because the country had yet to be consumed by war. BACKGROUND Ilyas is an IT specialist and married father who fled from Kyiv to Lviv shortly after the war started. His wife and two young sons are now taking refuge in Poland.As of May 2022, Ilyas is back living in the family apartment in Kyiv and working, in part, for the Ukrainian government on specialist projects. Oksana, 34, 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 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. Week 10 diary entries were recorded using WhatsApp voice notes and first published on the Ukraine War Diaries podcast feed. To follow this series when it broadcasts, on weekdays, subscribe to Ukraine War Diaries wherever you get your podcasts. From the producers of Sky News’ multi-award winning series – StoryCast. CREDITSSeries Producer - Rob MulhernProduction Support/Editing - Paul Stanworth