Hello and welcome to Ways to Change the World. I'm Krishnan Girimurthy and this is the

podcast in which we talk to extraordinary people about the big ideas and their lives and

the events that have helped shape them. My guest this week is becoming an increasingly

familiar figure on our TV screens and on the radio, airwaves and social media because

she's one of the key voices, one of the key political voices coming out of Ukraine since

the invasion in February by Russian forces. Lesia Vasilenko was the daughter of Ukraine's

ambassador to the UK so she spent a lot of time in this country, she also studied here before

becoming a human rights barrister and then going into politics and I'm really glad we've

been able to arrange this Lesia, welcome to the podcast. Hello and it's pleasure to be with you.

I mean first of all how are you? Well I'm great because I'm at home, I'm in Kiev and every time

I'm here this gives me a sense of strengths and a sense of calmness despite all the air sirens

which can hit you even in the middle of the night but still home is home and I feel right about

being here. But you don't have your children with you that must be very difficult. No I do not

and it's a sacrifice that I had to make that my family had to make. I am on the

path of serving my people as a member of parliament and I take this duty very seriously was for

responsibility and for that unfortunately I have to spend less time with my children for them

research to be in safety because the other sacrifice of course is not keeping them here next to

me but actually keeping them away and out of the country where they can be safe and where they

can have a normal childhood really. So how do things feel to you now? I mean the war has had

an intense period, a high peak and it now seems to have reached something of a plateau. How do

you see the current situation? For me it's like reliving 2014 and 2015 all over again. I mean

Russia's war against Ukraine, Russia's aggression against Ukraine has started eight years ago

...