Ukrainecast

As Russia hits the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, Vitaly reflects on the impact the war is having on his home town – and the challenges he faces as a journalist to remain impartial, while his friends suffer and die. This episode was presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko. The series producer is Estelle Doyle. The technical producer Dave O’Neill. The editor, Jonathan Aspin...

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner answers Ukrainecast listeners’ questions about the likelihood of Moscow using nuclear weapons, as the Russian army continues to suffer losses on the battlefield. And we hear from Vyacheslav Zadorenko who, together with Ukrainian forces, liberated his native village - and his mum - after seven months of Russian occupation. And BBC Russian’s Olga Ivshina join...

While the Russian parliament proudly voted through its disputed annexations, the Ukrainian counter-offensive has been continuing, including the symbolic recapturing of the key eastern town of Lyman. The BBC’s defence correspondent Jonathan Beale, who’s just returned to the frontline in the Donbas, gives us his verdict on another dramatic turn of events in the country.   Russian political scientist...

In a defiant speech, Vladimir Putin declared four areas of Ukraine as Russian. Ukraine has responded by asking Nato to speed up giving it membership of the US-led defence alliance. Will Vernon, from the BBC Moscow bureau, sends us a dispatch from the Red Square, where a concert is being held to ‘celebrate’ the annexations. And Vitaly Sevchenko and Victoria Derbyshire are joined by Moscow based pol...

The EU believes leaks in the two Nord Stream two gas pipelines from Russia were caused deliberately. Patricia Lewis, who specialises in International Security, gives Lucy and Irena her take on the situation and explains how Europe might respond. Moscow says four occupied areas of Ukraine have voted overwhelmingly in favour of becoming part of Russia. Ukraine and its allies have denounced the refer...

There have been protests in Russia over President Putin’s partial mobilisation plans, and an officer at a recruitment centre has been shot. The BBC’s Will Vernon in Moscow tells Lucy and Irena what people in Russia are saying to him, and Rayhan Demytrie in Tbilisi talks to some of the people crossing the border into Georgia. At the weekend, former US marine Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh returned home - he h...

Men flee conscription into the army as referendums start in Russian occupied Ukraine. Victoria and Vitaliy take stock of an eventful week in the Ukraine war with Samantha De Bendern, a former NATO adviser and political risk consultant and former BBC Moscow correspondent, Daniel Sandford. And Vitaliy talks to Yulia Rubanova a violinist with the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra about her early life in Ma...

President Putin warns the West he’s not bluffing and that he is prepared to use "all the means at our disposal" if Russian territory is threatened. The nuclear threat came as he announced a “partial” mobilisation of reserve troops to Ukraine. Vitaly, Victoria and the BBC’s Security Correspondent Frank Gardner unpick how real the possibility of a nuclear war actually is. Ukrainecast’s Ivana Davidov...

On the day when most of the world’s leaders and officials are gathering in London for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, President Putin is notable by his absence. He is one of only six heads of state who was not invited. Also, at a summit in Uzbekistan, Putin faced concerns by the Chinese President Xi Jinping and further admonishment by India’s Narendra Modi. Vitaly and the BBC’s former Russia co...

Nigel Povoas is a British lawyer who travelled to the newly recaptured territory in Eastern Ukraine as part of an international team helping with war crimes. He tells Victoria and Vitaly why based on his experience of the war so far, he believes more evidence of atrocities will emerge. They also talk to Volodymyr Zelensky, who is from the city of Izyum, where a mass burial site has been discovered...

Many Ukrainians are celebrating the liberation of towns in the south and east of the country from Russian occupation. But these are bittersweet days - the liberation came too late for some. Anastasia from Balakliya shares the devastating story of what happened to her mother and her friends. Also, Vitaly, Victoria and the BBC’s Ukraine correspondent James Waterhouse talk to Jakub Jakóbowski, an exp...

Gabriel Gatehouse joins Victoria and Vitaly to discuss the reactions in Russia to the recent setbacks in Ukraine. While some are calling for the Kremlin to take more drastic action, others appear to question the war itself. On the ground in Kharkiv, Sarah Ashton-Cirillo explains us how the city went through a complete power outage after Russian forces shelled the second biggest Ukrainian thermal p...

Russian forces withdraw from key eastern towns. Ukrainian officials say troops have entered Kupiansk, a vital eastern supply hub for Russian forces. In an extra episode of Ukrainecast, Vitaly and Victoria discuss the significance of the Ukrainian gains and analyse the Russian reaction. The Ukrainian advances - if held - would be the most significant since Russia withdrew from areas around Kyiv in...

President Zelensky sends a message of condolence to Britain's Royal Family. Ukraine has been celebrating "good news" about the recapture of several settlements from Russia in the eastern Kharkiv region and gains of more than 1,000 square km of territory in the last week, that’s according to the President. Victoria and the BBC's Katya Khinkulova speak to Justin Bronk, Senior Research Fellow and edi...

Journalist Konstantin Ryzhenko lived through months of fear and terror in Russian-occupied Kherson. He escaped two weeks ago and tells Vitaliy about what life is like in the city, and the role he played in providing intelligence to the Ukrainian military and resistance fighters. Also, Victoria talks to Russian oligarch and Putin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky – he explains why he believes force is th...

Vitaliy and Lucy Hockings talk to Gogol Bordello’s frontman Eugene Hütz about the band’s recent secret gig for Ukrainian soldiers. Frank Gardner brings us up to date on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant inspection and the offensive in Kherson. And Irpin resident Oleksandr describes what it is like to have your home bombed then occupied by Russian forces, and how he’s going about rebuilding. The serie...

Donald Trump, some top secret documents and the FBI. Welcome to episode one of the new-look Americast (we thought, as listeners of Ukrainecast, you might enjoy Americast). Classified documents stored at former President's Florida home were likely concealed as part of an effort to obstruct an FBI investigation, says the US Department of Justice officials. Justin, Sarah and the Zurch chat to former...

The boss of Lukoil, a Russian oil company, died on Thursday, the latest in a string of deaths of key Russian business people. Vitaly and Victoria unpick the rumours with Russian expert and author Mark Galeotti. We get the latest on the inspection of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant with James Waterhouse. And Maria Korenyuk has been investigating the re-writing of history books for schools in Russian...

He contributed to Ukraine's independence. So why do they not remember him more fondly? Victoria and Vitaliy reflect on the Gorbachev years, the demise of the Soviet Union and what he thought about Ukrainian independence with former BBC Moscow correspondent, Bridget Kendall. Justin Bronk a defence analyst from RUSI brings us up to speed with the Ukrainian offensive in Kherson. And we discuss the re...

Russian investigative journalist Ekaterina Fomina speaks to the team about her headline-making interviews with Russian soldiers, one of which admitted committing a war crime. Vitaly, James, and Victoria also talk about how disaster was avoided despite the electricity needed to cool reactors at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant being cut. And, as the football season in Ukraine starts again, we speak...

We mark the anniversary of Russia's war in Ukraine and follow the stories of Max, Anna, Hussain, Maksym and Viktoria, none of whom will ever be the same again. This episode of Ukrainecast was made by Chris Fynn, Philip Marzouk, Arsenii Sokolov and Louise Hidalgo. The technical producer and sound designer was Emma Crowe. The assistant editor was Sam Bonham.

Russia has opened a murder investigation after a journalist, Darya Dugina, died in a suspected car bombing not far from Moscow. Was she the target? Or was it her father, the ultra-nationalist philosopher Alexander Dugin? Victoria, Vitaly and Gabriel Gatehouse, who interviewed Alexander after the annexation of Crimea, profile the man said to be one of Putin’s inspirations. They also talk about who...

Ukrainian wife desperate for news. Natalia wants to know where her husband, a civilian mechanic, is being held prisoner in Russia. He was captured in March and the Red Cross confirm that he's in a Russian jail but hasn't heard anything since; she tells Victoria and Vitaly about how she is coping. We get an update about the nuclear standoff in Zaporizhzhia and we hear from BBC video journalist, Abd...

What is it like living under Russian rule? We hear from Hannah (not her real name) in Crimea. She tells us how she’s coping living through the recent explosions. And acclaimed Ukrainian author, Andriy Kurkov, explains how art has helped him process the conflict in Ukraine. This episode of Ukrainecast was made by Phil Marzouk with Ivana Davidovic and Arsenii Sokolov. The planning producer was Louis...

From performing with Ed Sheeran to becoming an army paramedic. We hear from Taras Topolia, lead singer in the Ukrainian band Antytila, about his transformation from frontman to physician.   BBC Russian’s Liza Fokht discusses what her sources in the Kremlin are saying about what Vladimir Putin is up to at the moment. Is there any hope of the war ending at the negotiating table?   And the BBC’s Kyiv...