Ukraine War Diaries

Introducing... The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim

Sky News’ Yalda Hakim and NBC’s Richard Engel have covered world events for years. Now, they team up for a new podcast to share their experiences from the frontline.     They debrief from global flashpoints and discuss their encounters with the...

EP68 - One year, three lives & our stories of war (Feb 25)

In an extended episode to mark one year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ilyas, Oksana and Seva come together for the first time as a group, to share just some of what impacted them most in the last 12 months and to consider what the future...

EP67 - Zelenskyy the great, loving power and ‘the smell of Spring’ (Feb 13-17)

Ilyas praises Ukraine’s leader after Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s UK visit and is grateful his wife and children, in Poland, don’t have to experience life in the middle of a warzone. Oksana is happy to have electricity this week and is looking forward to.…

EP66 - Barbarity in Bakhmut, bedding parcels & Kharkiv buyer’s guide (Feb 6-10)

Military volunteer Seva learns about comrades who suffered horrific deaths when he returns to Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. In Kyiv, answering a displaced mother’s call for help leads to an inspiring phone conversation for Oksana. And Ilyas...

EP65 - 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…

EP64 - Tanks, transfers & the threat of doing nothing (Jan 23-27)

Returning from assignment, Seva speaks with comrades in the eastern city of Bakhmut who are in desperate need of more advanced weaponry but happy to be alive. In Kyiv, Ilyas turns his birthday into a military fundraising exercise. And as Ukraine...

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…

EP62 - Comedy nights, a new curriculum, & checking out at the gym (Jan 9-13)

As fighting rages in the east of the country and against the backdrop of mounting casualties in the mining town of Soledar, Oksana finds some unexpected respite at a Kyiv comedy night. Meanwhile, in an basement gym, Ilyas finds a world removed from.…

 EP61 - Birthday at the pictures, pizza nights & polish pick-ups (Jan 2-6)

In Kyiv, making use of one of the cities bomb-proofed theatres, Oksana books a comedy night for military volunteer husband Seva. In one of the capital’s restaurants, Seva begins the new year in the company of army comrades who extend an emotional...

EP60 - Fond memories, fallen soldiers & our first war-time Christmas 

Against the backdrop of a Kyiv still under siege, Oksana reflects on magical Christmas memories from childhood until a drone attack brings her back to reality with a jolt. Meanwhile Seva shares the Christmas reality of comrades who continue to fight…