Two episodes of Award winning Producer Chris Hilton’s brand new and hard hitting series from the front line of the war in Ukraine. Humanity in a sea of violence. In the great tradition of Australian war reporting.
Episode: The First Ten Days
They called it a miracle. Ten days after Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine, the Russian advance had ground to a halt. Its president had thwarted assassins and, backed by public support, Ukraine’s armed forces had put up a formidable fight.
Kyiv was still in Ukrainian hands and the country’s democratically-elected government remained in place. This is the story of the ten days that shook the world, when the outgunned and outnumbered people of Ukraine fought President Putin’s invaders to a standstill.
When Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine, the country was expected to fall within 72 hours… but didn’t. This is the extraordinary story of Ukraine’s resistance in the first phase of the war, told by those who experienced events as they unfolded: Russian machine gunner Dimitri, who was on the 64 km convoy heading towards Kyiv; security guard-turned territorial defender Oleksandr; taxi driver Ivan, who faced a Russian execution squad; jewellery designer Evgenia, who became a sniper; Mariupol-based journalist Natalya, who left it too late to leave; and Orthodox priest Father Borys, who witnesses Russian atrocities.
Episode: The Volunteer Army
Since the early hours of of February 24, the youth driven Ukrainian Volunteer Service (UVS) has responded to thousands of requests, creating a set of websites, chat sites, and chatbots that matched more than 100,000 people— accountants, drivers, medics—with more than 900 organizations across the country.
The volunteers distribute food packages to people who lost homes, clean up rubble after bombing raids and even show people how to make Molotov cocktails and camouflage nets. Those willing to take real risks volunteer from occupied territories where they use encrypted- messaging apps to co-ordinate. These volunteers have learned to wipe their phones clean every day and cover-up any patriotic tattoos before leaving the house each day as they face face constant arrests by Russian soldiers.
