Since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, millions of people have fled the country in search of safety elsewhere in Europe. Most are women and children, with men of fighting age required to stay and protect their homeland.

So often the story of war is told through masculine eyes — soldiers fighting heroically on the front, typically male politicians battling for control of the narrative through speeches and summits  — but as more and more women stream out of the country, it is falling to them to tell the world what is happening in Ukraine, and to highlight their role in forging the country’s future.

On this week's Beyond the Headlines, host Erin Clare Brown travels to Romania and Moldova to hear first-hand from those who have fled the Russian campaign about what life was like inside a country under siege, and how it has changed for them since they left.