I'm a Ukrainian journalist. I never expected to be a war reporter in my own country

In March 2023, journalist Polina Lytvynova stands in a doorway of a destroyed building in Saltivka, a neighborhood of Kharkiv, Ukraine, that was severely damaged in the early stages of the war in 2022. (Claire Harbage/NPR)

KYIV, Ukraine — I've never dreamed of covering any war. And I never could imagine that the first war I would cover would be in my own country. And this war has now become not only my job but also my life.

I've been a journalist in Ukraine for eight years. Until 2022, I covered a wide range of topics — everything from the 2017 Eurovision Song Сontest in Kyiv to corruption scandals among Ukraine's top officials. I met soccer fans from all over the world coming to the UEFA Champions League final in 2018, when Ukraine for the first time hosted it. I checked whether businesses complied with quarantine restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic and I exposed stores that illegally sold alcohol to minors.