I Will Show You How It Was: The Story of Wartime Kyiv

In this masterful blend of memoir and reportage, Ukrainian journalist Ponomarenko covers the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine with rigor and surprising wit. Determined to combat the “shameless lies” that Vladimir Putin used to justify Russia’s assault on Kyiv, Ponomarenko shares his on-the-ground observations of Ukrainian resistance, highlighting how “the blitzkrieg plan that looked so good on paper and in TV propaganda suddenly hit a wall.” Quotidian details, including worries some locals had about how difficult it would be to remove the tape that kept their windows from shattering during Russian shelling, or a mother’s insistence on cooking elaborate meals for anyone sheltering with her, take on deeper meaning alongside Ponomarenko’s unsparing descriptions of mass graves covered by “plastic sheeting stained with a mixture of dried gore and rainwater.” Though president Volodymyr Zelensky, a former stand-up comedian, is portrayed as a surprisingly competent wartime leader, Ponomarenko also highlights his missteps (“We in Ukraine had a wonderful year and a half where the country’s defense minister and top commander of armed forces couldn’t be in the same room”). Such balanced takes and sardonic humor enliven the proceedings throughout. The results are lucid, stirring, and hard to shake. (May)