After a romantic getaway in Venice in late February 2022, Olha Beskhmelnytsina and Ethan Bregman said their goodbyes and flew home — she to Kyiv8mbets, Ukraine, and he to New York City.
The weekend was technically their first date, and after processing his feelings, on Feb. 23, Mr. Bregman texted Ms. Beskhmelnytsina that he cared a lot about her and asked if she wanted to take their budding relationship seriously. Ms. Beskhmelnytsina, a film producer and director, had come home from a movie premiere exhausted that evening and decided to answer him the next morning.
The next day, she woke to the sound of bombs; Russia had launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“I receive this message as my world is turning upside down,” Ms. Beskhmelnytsina said. Still, with all the chaos around her, one thing was clear. “I really want to date him,” she said.
After weighing her options, Ms. Beskhmelnytsina decided to remain in Kyiv to work as a fixer for two photographers, Ron Haviv of The Economist, and Heidi Levine of The Washington Post. (A fixer, or field producer, translates and explains local customs or policies, communicates with local authorities and arranges interviews and logistics for journalists.)
In tandem with that role, she began documenting what she was witnessing in the war zones for a film — the final product, “Overcoming the Darkness,” premiered in June 2022 — and after having hesitated for years, founded a film-production company, 2Brave Productions, with her friend Natalia Libet.
Having to tell Mr. Bregman that she wouldn’t evacuate and would be working in the most dangerous parts of the country, Ms. Beskhmelnytsina said, was “the hardest part of our relationship.” But, she added, “he respected my decision, and for me it was such a key moment that he knew I won’t change my mind and he supported me.”
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