So Maria is a beautiful sunny day here in Harkey.

It's very different from when we first met.

That was over two years ago.

The city was freezing cold, it was winter winter and it was under siege then.

I've come to meet Maria Avdiva, a security analyst and lifelong resident of the

Northeastern city of Harkiv. She loves Ukraine's second largest city,

so much in fact that at the beginning of the war in March 2022, after taking her children to safety, she returned to Harkiv while it was being heavily

shelled. She's fearless and wanted the world to see what was happening to her city.

She's been something of a guide ever since I first got here. Where are we going now?

We are going now to the best place in Harkey where people eat ice cream. It's in the Central Park in Harkey when it's very strange to see even during

the air raid the laws or like something happening around the city people still come and bring their

children and have some normal time.

You're listening to the documentary from the BBC World Service. I'm Quentin Somerville this week on assignment in Ukraine.

Harkiv has been under constant attack since the wars start. It's only 30 kilometers from the Russian border.

Russian troops made it inside the city at the beginning and were driven out.

In May this year, they tried again and were forced back.

At the heart of this elegant city, just by the university,

is Shivchenko City Park.

It's an oasis.

Even in Harkheves' darkest hours,

its flower beds and lawns, have been properly maintained.

On hot summers day, Maria and I took a walk through the park to consider the challenges

...