The dark is rising from the BBC World Service.

The powers of the dark are reaching out now steadily and stealthily all over this world.

Find out more at the end of this podcast.

Hello, I'm James Reynolds on the BBC World Service,

and this is BBC Earth Conversations on Ukrainians at Christmas.

In Ukraine, air rains, blackouts, cuts to water supplies,

continue to be the daily reality for millions of people.

We return to hear from four residents.

We spoke to them earlier this year.

We also hear from Ukrainian refugees

who are now having to adjust to life far from home.

You know, like in my head, I imagine being back to Ukraine,

our apartment and having this atmosphere feel like home

and everything is used to be.

Since the Russian invasion began in late February,

we have recorded the shocking events of the war day by day.

But at this point, we thought that it was worthwhile simply stopping

to reflect on what has happened since then,

and it can be really difficult to comprehend the scale of the conflict

over the past ten months.

Thousands of people have been killed or injured,

tens of thousands of men have been called up to fight,

...