Illia Ponomarenko's memoir opens up about covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine

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4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 3 June 2024

⏱️ 8 minutes

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Summary

There's a lot of tragedy that goes into watching your home erupt into a battlefield. But journalist Illia Ponomarenko says as the Russian military seized city after city in their latest invasion of Ukraine, people also came together in beautiful ways. His new memoir, I Will Show You How It Was, recounts what living – and covering – the war has been like so far. In today's episode, The Kyiv Independent co-founder speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about Ukrainians' willingness to fight for their country, what life is like in Bucha today and the unexpected way he met his girlfriend's parents.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Empire's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Ilyoponamarenko is probably one of the most
0:08.2	prominent journalists to come out of the war in Ukraine. Yeah, he used to be a reporter for the Kiev
0:13.6	independent, but I mostly encountered his work on X, formerly Twitter. He's got a memoir out now
0:19.1	detailing what the war has been like. It's titled,
0:22.1	I will show you how it was. And in this interview with Empire Scott Simon, they talk about the
0:26.6	early days of the war and how a lot of Ukrainians didn't think it actually happen. But they also
0:33.3	talk about the future, about continuing to live in Buccia, a city that suffered massive loss
0:38.4	and death, and about whether or not Ukraine can afford to continue fighting. That's after the
0:44.0	break. In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky
0:51.4	conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.
0:59.9	On our new show, Sources and Methods, NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,
1:03.1	helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
1:08.0	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:16.5	Elia Ponomarenko turned 30 years old in 2022, just as Russian forces attacked Ukraine.
1:20.8	He was a reporter for the new Kiev Independent, had much to cover.
1:26.0	But he also drove his mother from the Donbass to the home of the parents of his new girlfriend,
1:29.2	Natalia, to ask two people he had never met, can you take care of my mom? I don't know for how long. He then returned to Kiev to report
1:35.8	on the war and stories of survival among people, historically not just to stay alive, but to fight
1:42.2	back before the eyes of the world, even as the world start to look
1:46.7	away. Ilya Ponomareenko has written a memoir of the war so far. I will show you how it was,
1:53.9	the story of wartime, Keeve. It covers much blood, suffering, and loss, but also courage,
2:03.0	ingenuity, and heroism.
	...

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