'The Zelensky Story' director Michael Waldman was "woken up by air-raid sirens" while filming the new series.
Volodymyr Zelensky's story is being told in a new BBC series
The filmmaker was granted rare access to interview Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky and his First Lady Olena Zelenska for the new three-part BBC documentary, and he admitted there were some big challengers with filming in the country amid the Russian invasion.
He told the BBC: "To start with, getting there! All Ukrainian airspace is completely closed - so me and the cameraman flew to Warsaw, then travelled by road to the Polish/Ukrainian border, then heaved all filming equipment onto the (always full) overnight train to Kyiv - and of course the same in reverse, so not easy to make last minute changes to plans!
"And when there, not only occasionally being woken up by air-raid sirens but also of course the massive security getting into the Office of the President building - and then further complicated layers to get into the inner sanctum."
As well as interviewing the family and their inner circle, the series also includes new accounts from world leaders like Boris Johnson and Nancy Pelosi, plus former UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Advisor to the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak.
In a press release, the BBC teases: "Combining exclusive interviews with extraordinary archive footage never before broadcast in the UK, the series sheds new light on the origins of the war in Ukraine and the two men at its epicentre: Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky."
Reflecting on the decision to focus on Zelensky for the new series, Waldman said: "Zelensky is now arguably the most significant figure on the world stage.
"He is at the epicentre of the 21st century’s most important political and military storm - a war which inevitably affects us all.
"On top of that, his personal story is quite simply extraordinary. Who could be a more fascinating person to get to know?"
'The Zelensky Story' will be available to stream on BBC iPlayer from September 4 at 6am. Watch on BBC Two weekly from September 4 at 9pm.