Those Who Stayed is a 2023 Ukrainian drama series , the star of which is Anastasia Lodkina. The project was created by FILM.UA Group in partnership with the national broadcasters of Norway , Sweden and Finland and the German distribution company Red Arrow Studios International. ^[1]

The premiere took place on October 29 on YLE, and on 1 November, the series appeared on the Netflix streaming service in 19 European countries simultaneously.^[2][3]

The series became the first Ukrainian television project to have its digital premiere on Netflix, simultaneously with Ukraine, in 18 other European countries.^[4][5]

The anthology miniseries consists of six 30-minute episodes, each telling a separate story of people who, for various reasons, remained in Kyiv despite the danger during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine .^[4]

The series reveals the events leading up to the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Each episode of “First Days” is a feature-length mini-film inspired by real events, and some characters have real-life prototypes. Olga and her children are forced to live in the same house with two husbands – current and former. The war catches Maksym at work, at the zoo, from where he cannot leave. A homeless man living in a car helps the local Trotskyist , and a boy named Yegor calms down by shooting down missiles like angry birds in his imagination. German Klaus comes to Kyiv to pick up the girl, but finds himself among the volunteers and joins their work, and the legend of Ukrainian pop music, whose prototype was Andriy Danylko , conducts streams from his apartment in the capital – and becomes an inspiration to millions. The main characters have to save themselves, save their loved ones, and preserve their humanity and faith in victory