According to the United Nations, the conflict has displaced at least 12 million Ukrainians, while vast swathes of the country’s east and south are devastated. But according to frontline volunteer Seva, he and many of his fellow countrymen and women remain committed to the war – even if it means paying the ultimate cost. Subscribe to Ukraine War Diaries on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and Spreaker Speaking as part of a special edition of Sky News’ Ukraina War Diaries podcast, to mark six months since the start of the war, Seva explains. Image: “Let them bomb us. Let them kill us.’ “Everybody is war-weary, but [on the] On the other hand, I would say that 99.9% of Ukrainians understand that no peaceful negotiation is possible with a country like Russia. It’s just war, war to the end. “I was talking to many of them as well [said]”we don’t want to live in occupied territories, we don’t want to live in the new so-called Russia.” Seva says many he talks to do not want to live in the “new, so-called Russia”. “If you even talk about nuclear attacks, a lot of people say, ‘we don’t care. Let them bomb us. Let them kill us, but we don’t want to be Russians.” “Well, maybe [they are] emotional words, but on the other hand, I don’t want to be anyone but Ukraine. I want to live in Ukraine, not in [a] her province [the] Russian Empire”. Image: Seva has been cutting across Eastern Ukraine for five months – many of the buildings he passes are like the one he photographed Seva, along with his wife Oksana and IT specialist Ilyas, make audio diaries of their experiences in a nation at war since the Russian invasion. The latest installment of Ukraine War Diaries asks the same question – now what? Image: Seva and his partner have been recording war diaries from Ukraine for Sky News for almost six months “Everything has changed,” Seva replies. “There are no long-term plans for our lives anymore. “All we can plan for is maybe a week ahead, because we don’t know what’s going to happen, tonight, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow.” “All the money we spend, along with my wife, is to support our military, to support the children we know … it’s the main purpose to keep working.” From the creators of Sky News’ award-winning StoryCast, Ukraine War Diaries is a weekly podcast that follows those living on Europe’s new front line and those who have escaped it. Producer: Robert Mulhern Digital promotion and additional writing: David Chipakupaku
