I Will Show You How It Was

Illia Ponomarenko's "I Will Show You How It Was: The Story of Wartime Kyiv" stands as a vital firsthand chronicle of Ukraine's capital during the early months of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. As a defense reporter for The Kyiv Independent, Ponomarenko occupied a unique position during the conflict's opening phase, combining professional journalistic duty with the deeply personal experience of witnessing his homeland under assault. This dual perspective permeates the narrative, creating a work that functions simultaneously as war reporting and intimate testimony.

The book captures Kyiv during its most precarious period, when Russian forces advanced toward the capital with the apparent intention of toppling the Ukrainian government within days. Ponomarenko documents the atmosphere of those early weeks when uncertainty gripped the city, residents debated whether to flee or stay, and the possibility of defeat seemed distressingly real. His account moves beyond strategic military analysis to examine how ordinary Kyivans responded to existential threat, transforming their city into a defensive bastion while maintaining the routines that defined their humanity.

What distinguishes this account from conventional war correspondence is its immediacy and authenticity. Ponomarenko wrote many passages in real time, capturing moments as they unfolded rather than reconstructing them through the clarifying lens of hindsight. This approach preserves the confusion, fear, and determination that characterized those days when the outcome remained genuinely uncertain. The narrative conveys what it meant to report on a war while simultaneously living through it, to document history while uncertain whether there would be a future in which to read that documentation.

The author's professional background as a defense journalist provides the book with technical credibility regarding military operations, weapons systems, and tactical developments. He explains the significance of specific battles, the importance of territorial control, and the strategic implications of various military decisions. However, the book's strength lies not in its military analysis alone but in how it integrates that analysis with human-scale observations about daily life under siege conditions.

Ponomarenko describes the transformation of urban space during wartime: empty streets punctuated by checkpoints, the eerie silence of a typically bustling metropolis, the makeshift fortifications that appeared throughout the cityscape. He documents how residents adapted to the constant threat of missile strikes, the challenge of maintaining normalcy amid chaos, and the small acts of resistance and solidarity that sustained morale. These details ground the larger military narrative in tangible, relatable experience.

The book also serves as a record of Ukrainian resilience and the defiance that surprised international observers who had predicted swift Russian victory. Ponomarenko captures the determination that characterized the Ukrainian response, from military personnel to civilian volunteers to those who simply refused to abandon their homes. This documentation proves historically valuable, preserving not just events but the emotional and psychological texture of a society under assault.

The writing style remains accessible despite the gravity of subject matter. Ponomarenko avoids overly technical military jargon that might alienate general readers while maintaining sufficient detail to satisfy those seeking substantive information about the conflict. The prose moves efficiently, driven by the urgency of events described. Some passages reflect the exhaustion and stress inherent in wartime reporting, which adds authenticity rather than detracting from readability.

As a historical document, the book captures a specific moment before subsequent developments changed the war's trajectory. The eventual Russian withdrawal from the Kyiv region, the discovery of atrocities in places like Bucha, and the war's evolution into a grinding conflict in eastern and southern Ukraine all lay beyond the temporal scope of this account. This narrow focus proves advantageous, preserving the uncertainty and stakes of those critical early weeks without the distortion that comes from knowing how circumstances would develop.

The work contributes to a growing body of Ukrainian voices documenting the 2022 invasion from inside the experience rather than as external observers. Such accounts prove essential for historical understanding, offering perspectives that differ fundamentally from those of foreign correspondents, military analysts, or diplomatic observers. Ponomarenko writes from within Ukrainian society, making his testimony particularly valuable for those seeking to understand how the conflict was experienced by those it most directly affected.

"I Will Show You How It Was" succeeds as both journalism and memoir, providing readers with a ground-level view of a historical moment that reshaped European security and Ukrainian national identity. For those seeking to understand the human dimension of the conflict beyond strategic assessments and casualty statistics, Ponomarenko's account offers essential testimony grounded in direct experience and professional observation.