Dmitry Gromov and Oleg Ladyzhensky had never written documentary prose before—only fiction. They had never kept diaries. But the invasion of Ukraine changed everything. These diaries are not the usual fantasy associated with Ol'di. A different language, a different style—befitting the circumstances.

These notes were written in shelled cities, basements, and bomb shelters, on evacuation trains and buses, in rented apartments during brief pauses in the "volunteer fever," between calls to friends and loved ones.