War Diary

The essential, deeply penetrating diary of life in Kiev during the first days of Russia's invasion of Ukraine by the acclaimed author of Lucky Breaks 'An essential document of the Ukrainian people's experience of the conflict' Wall Street Journal The artist and writer Yevgenia Belorusets was in her hometown of Kyiv when Russia's invasion of Ukraine began on the morning of February 24, 2022. For her and millions of Ukrainians, reality changed overnight. She set out to document the war and its effects on the ordinary residents of the country: the relentless sound of sirens and gunfire; intense moments of connection and solidarity with strangers; the struggle to make sense of a good mood on a spring day. Published each day in German by the newspaper Der Spiegel and in English by ISOLARII, War Diary had an immediate impact worldwide. Issued here with a new preface and more recent entries by the author, it stands as a unique monument to the devastation and resilience of a city under siege.

Yevgenia Belorusets is a Ukrainian writer, artist, and photographer who lives in Kyiv and Berlin. She is the author of the collection of stories Lucky Breaks, which was awarded the 2020 HKW International Literature Award in Germany and is published by Pushkin Press. Her photographic work has been shown in the Ukrainian pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2015 and 2022. She is a member of the Hudrada curatorial collective and cofounder of Prostory, a journal for literature, art, and politics.