SINOPSIS

Citizens at War: A Year in Ukraine is a six-part international documentary series commissioned by Germany’s ZDF and produced by FILM.UA Group, Tilt Media, GTV Docs and Blue Ant International.
The project chronicles the year of full-scale war through the eyes of Ukrainians themselves — from the President’s Office to the frontlines and civilian resistance.
Episode “The Volunteer Army” focuses on the ordinary citizens who transformed overnight into a nationwide network of volunteers — supplying, rescuing and rebuilding amid constant danger. Through exclusive access to personal stories and first-hand footage filmed by Ukrainians at the very epicentre of the invasion, the episode captures how solidarity and self-organisation became a defining force of survival and national identity.
The series features exclusive interviews with President Volodymyr Zelensky, First Lady Olena Zelenska along with soldiers, doctors, and civilians whose courage shaped the country’s resistance.

As the editor of The Volunteer Army, I focused on capturing the emotional reality of those who chose to help rather than flee. Many scenes were filmed by the volunteers themselves — often on their phones, amid shelling and chaos. My aim was to keep that raw authenticity alive while shaping it into a coherent, emotional narrative that reflects their courage, exhaustion and humour under fire. The challenge was to weave professional footage, personal archives and on-the-ground interviews into one living pulse — keeping viewers close to the human heartbeat of the story, beyond numbers and politics.