Ukrainecast

A mother in Siberia tells us how her son died at a training camp in Russia - he had volunteered to fight but never made it to the front line. The BBC’s Tim Whewell spoke to her and other families in Bratsk whose young men have gone to war. Ukraine has opened a “surrender hotline” for Russian soldiers to call. Our correspondent in Dnipro, James Waterhouse, has been talking to the people who run it....

We hear from Borys Todurov, a cardiac surgeon from Kyiv, whose team used head torches to operate on a 14-year-old boy after a Russian strike knocked out the hospital’s power supply. Olena, a mother of eight from Izium, tells us how an attack near her home killed her mother and left her teenage son unable to walk. He was taken to Moscow for treatment and thought Olena was dead. And Dr Patricia Lewi...

Olena Zelenska says Ukrainians will endure the winter despite the cold and power cuts caused by Russian shelling. Ukraine’s first lady told the BBC’s Lyse Doucet that Ukraine is facing many challenges, but that a blackout is not the worst thing that can happen to them. Also, one of the country’s richest businessmen, Vsevolod Kozhemyako, talks about his decision to fund a group of soldiers that has...

A baby boy has died after a missile hit a hospital maternity ward just two days after he was born. Before the attack, Victoria interviewed the Russian ambassador to the UK Andrey Kelin and asked him about the killing of civilians and war crimes committed in Ukraine. Also, BBC correspondent James Waterhouse has been meeting the people rebuilding the country’s bombed-out infrastructure. And friend o...

Gabriel Gatehouse takes us back to the anti-corruption protests of 2013 in Kyiv’s Maidan Square that told Moscow it was losing influence in Ukraine. Viktoria Andrusha tells us why she risked her life and her freedom by informing on Russian troops as they moved into her town. And we hear how Russia is currently reporting on the war and how the propaganda machine is presenting the recent withdrawal...

Alice, the little girl whose video of life in the bunker went viral, was separated from her mum when they were evacuated by Russian troops. We heard she was safe with her grandmother in Poland and on today’s podcast, we hear the story of her Ukrainian mum, Victoria and what happened to her. We hear the Ukrainian response to the news that a Dutch court has found three men guilty of murder for shoot...

After a fraught few hours, Nato said the missile that hit Poland - one of its members - was most likely fired by Ukraine in defence. The organisation says it was not intentional. We hear reaction from Ukraine, the US and Russia, with analysis from the BBC’s Security Correspondent Frank Gardner and Sam de Bendern , a political analyst with Chatham House and a former adviser to Nato. We also hear a...

Nato is deciding how to respond after a missile hit Poland, which is one of its members, killing two people. In this emergency episode of Ukrainecast, the BBC’s chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet, is joined by Vitaliy Shevhenko and Sam de Bendern , a political analyst with Chatham House and a former adviser with Nato. They discuss what we know and what Nato might do next. We’ll be back...

President Zelensky has visited the liberated city of Kherson and spoke of a “long and difficult path” ahead. The change in control of the city is seen as a major setback in Moscow, but the Kremlin still insists that Kherson is part of Russian territory. The BBC’s security correspondent Frank Gardner looks at what could happen next. Also, Mark Galeotti, author of Putin’s Wars: From Chechnya to Ukra...

There’s jubilation on Kherson’s streets as people welcome Ukrainian soldiers to the city after Russia withdrew its troops. It’s a hugely significant moment as Ukraine takes back control of the strategically important city. BBC international editor Jeremy Bowen assesses the situation on the ground and we hear from military expert Prof Gwythian Prins, a former advisor to the UN, Nato and the Ministr...

Russia has ordered its military to pull out of Kherson, the only regional capital it captured after invading Ukraine in February. The BBC’s Jeremy Bowen gives us his appraisal of whether we can believe what Russia says about troop movements. The news came shortly after the announcement that the Russian-appointed official in the region, Kirill Stremousov, had been killed in a car crash. BBC investi...

We hear from BBC Panorama reporter Hilary Anderson about her documentary on the devastating siege of Mariupol. She travelled over 3,000 miles through Ukraine and Europe hearing survivors’ stories and retrieving the wiped phone footage from witnesses to the city’s tragedy. Also - for months Natalia was unaware of her husband's fate: a Ukrainian soldier, he was captured and made prisoner by Russian...

The Ukrainian school boy was beaten, detained and threatened. Victoria and Vitaly hear from the mother of a Ukrainian school boy, beaten up and detained by Russian soldiers; and how she’s now trying to get him out the occupied area. The BBC’s International Editor Jeremy Bowen brings us the latest on the Kherson offensive; and James, who has stayed in Kherson throughout the occupation, tells us abo...

The BBC’s international editor Jeremy Bowen has been travelling around south-eastern Ukraine, to areas liberated from Russian control. He spoke to Liudmyla, a 75- year-old great-grandmother who was brutally attacked by a soldier in her own home. As winter approaches, we also hear how hard it is to survive in some places with no running water and energy blackouts. And Alexander Kamyshin, the head o...

The Ukrainian government has asked refugees not to come home before the spring – they’re worried about pressure on the energy system. But what does this mean for host countries? We discuss the implications with Sarah Nathan from the UK charity Refugees at Home and Stephanie Hegarty, the BBC’s global population correspondent. Also, the BBC’s Tim Whewell has an update on Viktoria Kovalenko’s situati...

The story of a Ukrainian father who survived the siege of Mariupol, only to be arrested at a Russian filtration camp and separated from his three young children, who were exiled to Russia. Ukrainecast producer Arsenii Sokolov and Nina Nazarova from the BBC’s Russian service join Vitaly to tell us more about this shocking case. The BBC’s security correspondent Frank Gardner takes listener questions...

Norway detains a suspected Russian spy - the latest in a long string of expulsions and arrests. Victoria and Vitaly discuss Russian espionage with BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera. He explains how the war in Ukraine has made the job of a Russian spy in Europe harder. Also, we hear the poignant testimony of a Ukrainian soldier who is suffering from post-traumatic stress because of the fight...

How one man secretly filmed life in Kherson under Russian forces. Dmytro Bahnenko tells us why he and his family stayed there for months secretly filming everyday life under occupation. His footage and story have also been made into a BBC documentary called Occupied. The BBC’s Ukraine correspondent, James Waterhouse, has been talking to people in recently liberated areas. He also discusses why Rus...

Why is Iran helping Russia? Chief international anchor at CNN, Christiane Amanpour, and BBC chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet, talk through Iran’s involvement in the conflict in Ukraine. And, as Zelensky reports that 30% of the country’s power stations have been destroyed by Russian missile strikes, we speak to Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, boss of Ukraine’s national energy company, about the...

Tens of thousands of civilians and Russian appointed officials are being moved out of the occupied city of Kherson, raising fears of what might happen next. Belkis Wilke from Human Rights Watch spoke to dozens of civilians from the recently liberated town of Izyum. She tells Lucy and Vitaly how they described beatings, electric shocks, and waterboarding in the hands of Russian occupiers. And, amid...

Russia has attacked the Ukrainian capital with drones that loiter above a target before attacking, then detonate on impact. The BBC’s defence correspondent Jonathan Beale explains to Victoria and Vitaly why Russian forces are now using these weapons. Ukrainian author Andrei Kurkov reflects on the life and death of the Ukrainian conductor Yuriy Kerpatenko. The musician was killed by Russians occupy...

As the Russian-installed leader of the region calls on its citizens to evacuate and “save themselves”, Vitaliy and Victoria hear about life under occupation in Kherson. They talk to Tamila Imanova, a lawyer working for Memorial, the Russian human rights organisation just awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She explains why she agrees with the Ukrainians who insist the Russian people must bear collectiv...

The Ukrainian authorities says they believe thousands of the country’s orphans have been taken to Russia for adoption. The BBC Russian service’s Nina Nazarova investigates their claims and speaks to a Russian woman who shares her mixed feelings about adopting a child from Ukraine. Vitaly and Victoria speak to Gleb Irisov, a former Russia soldier who served under Russia’s new army commander, Sergey...

Putin says missiles targeting Ukraine are revenge for the attack on the bridge linking Russia to Crimea at the weekend and threatens more strikes. The capital Kyiv and cities from Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia in the east to Lviv in the west have all been hit. Sabina, who lives in Kyiv, tells us one explosion went off just metres away from her car. Also, photographer Serhii Korovayny describes the scen...

Historian Orlando Figes explains why the mythologising of Russia’s past is crucial to understanding Putin’s world view and aspirations for his country. We have an update on Alice – the little girl who was separated from her mother when the Azovstal steelworks were evacuated. One her fifth birthday she got a phone call from her mum, who is being held prisoner by Russians. Russian lawyer Mikhail Ben...