Serhii Tereshchenko, a doctoral student in Columbia University’s Slavic Department, was working on his dissertation in Kyiv and planning to get married when Russia invaded Ukraine. On his scheduled wedding day, he evacuated to Lviv with his fiancée and her sister. Listen to his story.

About Voices of Ukraine: Since Russia invaded Ukraine, we’ve been hearing a lot of firsthand accounts of lives upended by the war. Listen to our new podcast, Voices of Ukraine, featuring the voices of Harriman community members who are in Ukraine or deeply connected to it. Listen to the trailer and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon, iHeart Radio, PlayerFM.

This episode was written and produced by Masha Udensiva-Brenner and edited by Ann Cooper. Trailer edited by Daniel Alarcón. Music by Ivan Nebesnyy. Art by Victoria Tentler-Krylov. Editorial help and production assistance from Jordan Waller. Production assistance from Aleks Turek. Thanks to Marko Andryczyk for feedback on the episode.

Show notes: You can find Serhii’s website here and watch his YouTube channel here.