Borys Yakovenko is a Ukrainian journalist and television cameraman. He is one of the protagonists of the documentary film Mariupol: Unlost Hope. Before his eyes, his native city was being destroyed, and his neighbors were being killed. He himself more than once found himself one step away from death.

Borys filmed the aftermath of the bombing of the maternity hospital. Around the building was a true Armageddon: everything was covered in ash, cars were burned out, and corpses lay nearby on the avenue.

One of the shellings of Mariupol caught him in his apartment. The windows and doors were blown out. A parrot sitting in its cage miraculously survived. After that, Borys spent the nights in a terrifying cold in the corridor until he managed to leave the city.