The memoir of former Kyiv Independent war reporter Illia Ponomarenko on the first days of Russia's full-scale invasion is set to be released on May 7.
"I Will Show You How It Was," which is now available for pre-order, details Ponomarenko's on-the-ground perspective as Russian forces drew closer to Kyiv in February and March of 2022.
Ponomarenko worked with the Kyiv Independent before and immediately after the start of the all-out war, covering Ukraine's military and defense.
Reporting from the brink of Russian occupation, Ponomarenko's eyewitness account shows how Ukraine fought back against the odds while exposing Russia's hypocritical case for the war.
"At the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the world thought that Ukraine would not be able to withstand the military power of Russia," writes Oleksandra Matviychuk, the human rights defender and the 2022 Noble Peace Prize laureate, about the book.
"But people decided to fight for their freedom. Nothing is predestined. It is the decisiveness to act that determines the society that has a future. And this is what this book is about," she adds.
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing and a co-produced by Ponomarenko and the Kyiv Independent, the book is set to provide a candid look into a capital at war.
"This eyewitness account of the battle for Kyiv explains not only how it happened but also why the Ukrainians fought and keep fighting today, once again against all the odds," writes historian Serhii Plokhy, director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, about the book.
Illia Ponomarenko
