Tag Archives: War Diaries – A Radio Amateur in Kyiv

A message from Kyiv (November 2025)

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(Main pic above: “I saw a romantic potato in the store”. Great stuff Wlad!)

The other month we heard from Wlad in Kyiv (here), where he shared some pictures from his friend Sergiy, who has been growing an impressive collection of plants on his balcony—everything started from seeds of whatever he eats, the last time it was photographs of his avocado plant. We’ve got more this month!

The avocados (above) that featured the other month are growing really well with strong stems, big leaves, and looks like they have no intention of slowing down. On top of that, he experimented with the seeds from a pitaya he bought and they’ve started to germinate (below). We had to look up what a pitaya was as we never heard of it before, it’s also known as the strawberry pear or dragon fruit. More on growing those here. Good luck with those, Sergiy!

And to add to those bits of tropical delight, he also decided to try growing pineapples (below).

It’s hard enough as it is to grow stuff like that anyway but at the moment in Kyviv electricity and heating have been unreliable again, so he improvised: he built a small stove on the balcony and added a new battery-powered lamp.

And that is some bulb!

And if you love a bit of circuitry as we do, here’s what’s inside it:

Now that’s what it’s all about, being inventive and making use of what you you can get your hands on. Great stuff Sergiy! Thanks again to Wlad for sending us the pictures, it’s appreciated. Keep safe the both of you, and do send us more updates.

Where there’s a will there’s a way

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A big thanks goes out to our good friend in Kyiv, Wlad (US7IGN) for sending us some more great pictures. This time it’s his indoor grown potatoes, from harvest to serving!

We seem to forget that to garden you don’t actually have to have a physical garden and Wlad proves this point really well with this great little harvest of potatoes which they look tasty too! All served with a bit of tasty dill that he grew indoors too.

And Wlad has written a great book which we featured (here) a while ago called War Diaries: A Radio Amateur in Kyiv which is available here. It’s a great read and well worth getting, even if you’re not interested in ham radio. Cheers for the photographs Wlad and hope you’re bearing up well out there.

Radio connects us all

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If you remember earlier this year we got in contact with Wlad Gurtovy (US7IGN) after buying his book “War Diaries – A Radio Amateur in Kyiv” (on sale here). We originally heard about Wlad in the Radio 4 programme in the Lights Out series called Call Signs  talking about life in Kyiv on his own after his wife and children had to flee to Poland because of the present crazy war. The show is still up online if you haven’t caught it, it is a must listen. Available here.

At the time he sent us pictures of his good friend Sergiy (UT3UFD)’s banana plant growing indoors in his apartment in Kyiv and it looked very healthy with all the care and attention it was getting from Sergiy. More on the post here.

We heard from Wlad last week alongside some updates of Sergiy’s indoor banana plant and it’s looking great and may even fruit this autumn! Perhaps we can have a word with Sergiy and ask about any tips and tricks about growing bananas indoors. As we’re not the best with identifying indoor plants we wonder if the bottom photo is another banana seedling or even a cutting. We await more info.

Thanks again to Wlad and Sergiy for keeping in touch with us considering what life is like in Kyiv at the moment. We at Weeds are thinking of them out there in Ukraine and hope that the war ends soon.

Radio connects us all

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A while ago we heard a wonderful Radio 4 programme in the Lights Out series called Call Signs. It featured the story of a radio ham, Wlad Gurtovy (US7IGN) talking about life in Kyiv, Ukraine on his own after his wife and children had to flee to Poland because of the crazy war.

It’s a capitating story, one about radios, home-made antennas and even features his children’s hamster called Mouse. He jokes that when his family contacts him, sometimes they ask how Mouse is before they ask how he is! It’s all mixed in with various radio noises and a nice soundtrack from 8ctavius. Download and listen to the programme here.

Wlad has also published a book about his experiences called “War Diaries – A Radio Amateur in Kyiv” which is presented as a record of events from the first day of the war on 24 February to the end of September 2022. We’ve still not finished the book yet but it’s an excellent read so far and one well worth buying. More on purchasing it here.

A big thanks to Wlad for passing on the pictures of his good friend Sergiy (UT3UFD)’s banana plant presently growing indoors in his apartment in Kyiv and it looks as healthy as anything. We’re not the best with indoor plants here sadly but it certainly looks like it is getting a lot of care an attention from Sergiy as it is thriving.

Wlad mentioned that Sergiy uses a lamp to heat the plant as it needs an environment of about 20°C. When the temperature in the apartment recently dropped to 14°C because of the blackouts he had to turn the gas stove on to get the heat back up to the right temperature. That’s dedication for you.

Thanks again to Wlad and also Sergiy for the photographs. We look forward to any updates!