Ilyas Verdiev’s Kyiv apartment is usually at fever pitch this time of year.
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Anyone who’s ever spent Christmas in the company of young children understands the irrepressible joy the festive period brings.
So it was in Verdiev’s city central apartment 12 months ago.
Not so now. Ilyas hasn’t bothered with a Christmas tree this year. There’s no point – his wife and two young sons continue to take refuge in Poland, where they fled shortly after the Russian invasion on 24 February.
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People cross the street amid snowfall as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, in central Kyiv
According to the United Nations almost 8 million Ukrainians have taken refuge in Europe since the start of the war.
And while the IT specialist has shared occasional weekends with his family in the relative safety of Lviv, in western Ukraine, the war has severed a life once shared.
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Because of a government directive that forbids men aged between 18-60 from leaving the country, Ilyas – and millions like him – will spend this Christmas alone in a city suffering huge power losses and yet further bombardment from the skies.
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People take shelter inside the metro station amid Russian missile attacks in Kyiv
To be reunited with his family, Ilyas would first need to secure a temporary pass to leave the country. Then he’d need to find his way to the border, across a darkened country scared by war.
To listen as Ilyas undertakes this journey, click here for the latest episode of Ukraine War Diaries – From a city under siege, a very Ukrainian Christmas story.
