The 40-year-old married father says he and a growing number of Ukrainians are beginning to accept that a war – which tore apart his family and scattered more than 5.5 million refugees across Europe – could now last for years, the prospect of which is a change in the perception of citizens. “I think this is the period for all of us that we have to define and we have to realize that the new reality has really started, and the formation of our new personality is going on right now,” Ilyas explains to Sky News Ukraine this week. The War Diaries podcast. “We have to admit it.” Image: Ilyas in Kyiv Russian troops recently took control of key areas in the disputed Donbas region – the focus of ongoing fighting in recent months, in addition to key strategic gains in the south. Ilyas, who refuses to allow his wife and two young sons to return to Kyiv from Poland – where they fled at the start of the war – began making audio diaries for Sky News shortly after the Russian invasion in February. “How [are] we will live for years to come,” continues Ilyas. “This formation is really important ’cause the realization that life isn’t going to be the same as it was five months ago is really necessary for all of us.” Image: The bomb shelter in Kyiv where Ilyas slept To hear the latest diary of Ilyas and that of Oksana, a Kyiv-based professional who this week finds inspiration in the form of a fellow 11-year-old, listen to the latest Ukraine War Diaries omnibus. Ukraine War Diaries – from Sky News’ award-winning series StoryCast – follows personal life in a country at war.
