Ukrainecast

As the nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia is attacked again, we hear from workers inside about what it’s like to work in such fear as soldiers hold them at gunpoint. Victoria and Vitaliy are joined by medical students who worked to save people in the bunkers of Kharkiv who are now in the UK studying at Cambridge University. The BBC’s defence correspondent Jonathan Beale details his interview with leadi...

Life inside a detention centre. We hear from Anna Vorosheva, about what it was like when she was held in a Russian detention centre in Eastern Ukraine. Victoria, Vitaly and the BBC’s Ukraine correspondent, James Waterhouse, discuss the details of the explosion at a military airfield in Crimea. And the BBC’s Chloe Hadjimatheou talks through her investigation into Graham Philips, a British freelance...

Part of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has been damaged by Russian rockets. Vitaly brings us up to date on his home city of Zaporizhzhia, where part of its nuclear plant has been damaged by Russian rockets, in an attack the United Nations called “suicidal”. We hear from Yeva (not her real name), who worries for the safety of her family members working on the site.   And the BBC’s security co...

BBC correspondent Andrew Harding describes how sleep has been near impossible in the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, which has been under almost constant Russian bombardment since the start of the war. Together with Vitaly and Irena, he also discusses a report by Amnesty International, which accuses Ukraine of endangering the lives of its own citizens by setting up military bases in residential areas,...

Vitaly, Frank and Irena are looking into the Wagner Group, Russia’s private army that is allegedly involved in the Ukraine war. The group has been active over the past eight years in Ukraine, Syria and several African countries, and has repeatedly been accused of war crimes. We hear from ex Wagner fighter Marat Gabidullin about his experience and why Russia is relying on a private army. And Vitaly...

16-year-old Vladislav Buryak was held captive for 90 days by Russian proxy forces. He says he was kept in solitary confinement and witnessed other prisoners being tortured during that time. Also, after months of Russian blockade, a Ukraine grain shipment is allowed to set sail. Vitaly and Irena are joined by the BBC’s Ukraine correspondent, James Waterhouse, who is at the port of Odesa where the m...

YouTube, which is owned by Google, is one of the rare Western social media platforms that is not banned by Russia. Neal Mohan, YouTube’s Chief Product Officer, discusses the fine line between disinformation and censorship – and explains why banning fake news channels isn’t always the best way forward. Lucy and Vitaly are joined by the BBC's disinformation reporter Marianna Spring. Together, they s...

A special episode to hear Ukraine’s first lady talking to Ukrainecast’s Lucy Hockings. President Zelensky’s wife, Olena Zelenska, spoke about trauma, dealing with the spotlight and that Vogue cover. Vitaly and the Ukrainian Service’s Irena join Lucy to share their thoughts and impressions of the interview with Ukraine’s first lady. The series producer is Estelle Doyle. The technical producer Emma...

Long before Russia invaded Ukraine, the country was dealing with a problem: the abandoning of disabled people to institutions that weren’t fit for purpose. The BBC’s Dan Johnson and producer Ruth Clegg tell us about these institutions. In the news, Russia continues to weaponise its gas supplies as a way of wielding leverage over Western nations. Dr Aura Sabadus, energy specialist at International...

Russian missile strikes have hit the port of Odessa, just one day after Ukraine and Russia agreed a landmark deal to resume Ukraine's grain exports. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is on a tour of Africa to counter accusations that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has started a global food crisis. Murithi Mutiga, Programme Director for Africa at the International Crisis Group, explains wher...

The deal between Ukraine and Russia should help alleviate the global food crisis. BBC Ukraine correspondent James Waterhouse joins Vic and Vitaliy to discuss the deal and whether it’s a promising sign for negotiations in the wider war. We hear from Ukrainian lorry drivers who are stuck beyond the border in Russia with no means of coming back without abandoning their vehicles and, therefore, their...

As the Russian president meets leaders of Iran and Turkey, the BBC’s former Moscow and diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall takes us through what this tells about Putin's remaining diplomatic friends. Vitaliy and Victoria catch up with a young soldier we first met in May who is now taking brief respite from fighting on the front lines in the east to visit injured friends in Kyiv. And we meet s...

Once the richest man in Russia under 35, mobile phone tycoon Evgeny Chichvarkin explains why he needed to sell his company and escape Putin’s Russia in 2008. Settled in London, he’s now personally delivering aid to Ukraine. Organised crime expert Misha Glenny and the BBC Russian Service’s Anastasia Stognei explore the deep connections between Russia’s president, its wealthiest oligarchs, and the W...

Running a hotline for victims of abuse. We hear from Alyona Kryvulyak... Russian missiles have hit the city of Vinnytsia, in central Ukraine, killing at least 23 people. From the scene of the attack, the BBC’s Zhanna Bezpiatchuk gives us the latest on the situation. And we talk to Wayne Jordash, who has been investigating war crimes in Ukraine. He explains how his team collects evidence. Today's U...

The BBC Russian’s Olga Ivshina explains how her and her team have been able to estimate the number of Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine and buried in Russia by sending volunteers to visit cemeteries. Also, we hear from Mikhail Benyash, a Russian human rights lawyer who has been advising Russian soldiers who don’t want to fight in Ukraine. The BBC’s Security correspondent, Frank Gardner explains w...

Under laws that Russia brought in following the beginning of the invasion in Ukraine, a Moscow-based councillor has become the first person to be jailed for speaking out. The BBC’s Ukraine correspondent James Waterhouse joins Victoria for presenting duties, and they take stock of the current situation in Ukraine. A young soldier from Mariupol tells us how he survived horrific injuries, being taken...

Fearless paramedic, Yuliia “Taira” Paievska, who filmed the horrors of Mariupol and was then held captive for 3 months by Russian proxy forces. She describes how she was physically and psychologically tortured. Lyse and Irena discuss why a Ukrainian croissant is named after Boris Johnson – and the wider reactions to the UK’s Prime Minister resignation with Yuriy Sak, adviser to Ukraine's Minister...

A Ukrainian medic, Olexander, based on Snake Island was captured on the first day of the war. Almost five months later, his mother and fiancée break their silence to make a plea for information on his wellbeing. The sole survivor of a Russian shooting, who lived by playing dead, has been speaking to Fergal Keane about what happened. And the BBC’s Olga Ivshina explains how Russia has been sending s...

Russia has claimed control of the key eastern city Lysychansk and the region around it. The Kremlin said this was one of its main aims. So, what happens next? Lyse, Vitaly and Irena check in with Maksym, a Ukrainian soldier fighting on the front line. Also, Pavlo Shulga, who works with Ukraine Trust Chain, tells us about his latest trip to the area around Lysychansk where he was attacked as he del...

Russian forces have detained the mayor of Kherson, Ihor Kolykhayev, after he refused to work with them. The BBC’s Tim Whewell spoke to him a few days before his abduction. Meanwhile, the BBC Russian service’s Liza Fokt explains to Victoria and Vitaly, how in another occupied city, Severodonestsk, some people do welcome the Russian forces. And Roman, who helped evacuate dozens of people from Mariup...

A quarter of a million people now participate in regular cyber attacks against Russia. We hear from one of the volunteers, Oleksandr Naumenko. And also from US-Russian cybersecurity expert Dmitri Alperovitch. BBC Ukrainian service reporter Olga Malchevska recalls a recent visit to her home town of Kyiv and the trauma of seeing in person her bombed childhood apartment. As Western leaders gather in...

Russian missile strike hits a shopping centre in central-eastern Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky says that more than 1,000 people were inside. Vadym Yudenko lives in the city and tells us what he saw. Diplomatic Editor, James Landale updates us on the G7 meeting in Germany where leaders have pledged their continuing support for Ukraine. And we hear from the BBC’s Joel Gunter who has just ret...

A former Soviet soldier describes how he’s now helping resistance groups in the Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine by advising them how to mount an insurgency. UNICEF’s Pete Manfield describes how the war in Ukraine is taking its toll in Somalia, and BBC Africa correspondent Catherine Byaruhanga explains why some Africans are taking a pro-Russian stance. Also, a listener in Russia explains how he...

Imane Saaudun, the sister of captured Moroccan fighter Brahim Saaudun tells us why she feels her own country has betrayed her brother. A Russian exclave sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania called Kaliningrad has become the latest focus in the Ukraine war. Victoria and Vitaly find out why from the BBC’s European editor, Katya Adler. Sarah Ashton-Cirillo is an American war reporter based in Khar...

Vitaly and the BBC’s Katya Khinkulova speak to Pavel Shulga, who’s about to travel to Severodonetsk to evacuate women and children from battle zones. Frank Gardner tells us what’s happening on the ground and tells us about the diplomatic developments. And we catch up with Olga Drover, who lives in Troon in Scotland, who we heard from last in March, when she had lost contact with her parents in Mar...