The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast: Four years of war in Ukraine and finding safety in Cork

It’s four years today since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a day that changed the course of world history

Journalist  Liudmyla Bortok speaks candidly on The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast about the personal toll of war in Ukraine and the welcome she has received in Ireland.

"On 24 February, 5 in the morning, I woke up because my neighbours were screaming and I heard like, 'It started! It started!'

"I looked out of the window and I saw explosions. I was in Kyiv at the time and I saw explosions going around... You could hear explosions, and people were rushing for the apartments to the parking spot we had, and just packing their bags, kids, all they had, pets, and just leaving immediately.

"It took me 30 hours just to get away from Kyiv on that day."

It’s four years today since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It was a day that changed the course of world history, with ripple effects on the lives of ordinary people all over Europe and further afield.

The increasingly brutal and intractable war has also changed Ireland, with almost 120,000 Ukrainians seeking refuge here since the war began. About 84,000 of them, mostly women and children, remain in Ireland.

One of those is journalist Liudmyla Bortok, who fled to Cork with the assistance of an Irish colleague, driving across Europe with her elderly father, her teenage son and her cat.

On today’s episode, Liudmyla speaks candidly about the personal toll of war, the difficulty caring for vulnerable family members in a time with no instruction manual, the welcome she has received in Ireland, and how Ukraine has dropped down the news agenda over four grinding years of war.