Lviv
The Story of Bogdan Charkovskiy
A birthday in the midst of the Russian invasion

Bodgan had exciting plans during this time, like celebrating his little brother's birthday, “he turned 10 on February 24th - the day Russia started the full invasion”. Besides, his mom and he had tickets for the Diesel Show, their favourite comedy show. All of this was about to happen in the near future while Bodgan also had in mind to start working abroad and enjoying the full experience of living abroad.

“In Lviv, people are fond of different festivals and also like fairs”, he remembers how he enjoyed going to the cinema, doing the grocery, and meeting with friends - something that has become far more complicated to do now.

“I did not believe it until I watched it on the news”

Bodgan lives in Lviv with his family, in fact, he says it is still a safe place for the moment. When asking him about the place that he and his family use when the alarm sounds he says:

“We live in a flat panel house and our basement is not a safe shelter to hide. Close to my house, there are some critical infrastructure facilities, not military ones, but they were attacked with rockets some days ago.”

On February 24th he remembers he had to take his little brother to school but his family woke him up and told him the war had begun.

“I did not believe it until I watched it on the news. After that I started to call all my relatives”.

Finding comfort in delivering

“I am glad that I have my job and people are happy that delivery services work, in fact, they find some comfort in seeing that the economy is still working”. For him, bringing money to the table is crucial since he is the only member of his family that can work, “It’s hard to sit without doing anything so I combine volunteering activities with my job, especially because I’m the only one who can earn money in the family”.

Thanks to all couriers in Ukraine

Yurii, Sergey, Serhij, Bogdan & Oleksiy are five out of many couriers in Ukraine who, on a daily basis, bring hope to those who open the doors of their homes or wait for them in metro stations to get their medicines. Today we get to know them a little closer, in their most personal side, like the city eyes that never stop looking.

person braking the bike