Ukrainecast

Grim signs of potential war crimes on the road to Kyiv. The BBC’s Jeremy Bowen joins us from near Ukraine’s capital, where he has seen the burnt remains of civilians, shot dead as they tried to flee Russian soldiers. We also discuss reports of a Ukrainian attack on an oil depot in Russia and the latest plan to evacuate residents of occupied Mariupol. Fergal Keane discusses the trauma many in Ukrai...

Putin says the West must pay for their energy with Russian currency... Newscast’s Adam Fleming and the BBC’s Security Correspondent, Frank Gardner, sit in for Victoria and Gabriel, alongside Vitaly. They talk energy supplies, security intel and the latest from Mariupol. They also catch up with Anastasiya Gribanova from the BBC's Ukrainian Service, who's in Lviv. She explains why she'd like to take...

Russia plays down hopes of a breakthrough... Victoria, Vitaly and the BBC’s Diplomatic Correspondent, James Landale, talk through the latest in Ukraine. Julia Friedlander, Senior Fellow and Director of Economic Statecraft at the Atlantic Council, talks about the dangers of imposing tougher economic sanctions on Russia.   And we catch up with 19-year-old student, Vitalii, about life in Lutsk, the c...

Russia has promised to reduce attacks around Ukraine’s capital at face-to-face talks in Turkey. Victoria, Vitaly and Newsnight’s Lewis Goodall ask if that’s a hopeful sign or just empty words. After reports about the poisoning of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and two Ukrainian peace negotiators, we speak to Max Colchester, one of the journalists who uncovered the news, and former Soviet intellige...

Hussain, who we’ve been following since the start of the war in Ukraine, tells us how he finally managed to get his family out of a Russian-controlled area to freedom. The Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich and two Ukrainian peace negotiators have had symptoms of suspected poisoning, according to people close to them. Also, Victoria, Vitaly and Frank Gardner talk to a Ukrainian pilot who flies...

As Ukraine recaptures some of its towns, Victoria, Vitaly and Gabriel give an on-the-ground update and explain why Vladimir Putin has been talking about JK Rowling. Ukrainian MP Inna Sovsun speaks to us from Kyiv to discuss the first official investigation into rape allegations of a Ukrainian woman by a Russian soldier. And Unicef spokesperson James Elder joins us from Lviv where air raid sirens c...

One month since war broke out... Victoria, Gabriel and Vitaly reflect on the first weeks of a devastating conflict they never expected to happen. We explore where the war might go and how long for. We also look back over the past month with the voices of some of the people affected who have given us their testimony, including updates about Vitaly’s own family. And the BBC’s specialist disinformati...

We answer more of your questions about Ukraine... Nearly a month since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we are collaborating with the Global News Podcast again.   Jackie Leonard (from the GNP), alongside Gabriel Gatehouse and Vitaliy Shevchenko (from UC), guide us through questions about civilian life in the country, military tactics, and the international response to the invasion.   BBC Chief Int...

Even as Russia’s advance into Ukraine leaves cities in ruins, many Ukrainians feel they have no choice but to fight on. We speak to Maxim, a street artist from Nova Kakhovka in the Russian-controlled region of Kherson, who’s been graffitiing enemy tanks. After President Biden warned that Russia has the capability to launch cyber attacks in response to sanctions, the Oxford Internet Institute’s Mar...

As hundreds of thousands of civilians flee Mariupol as it lies in ruins, the world looks on in shock as the Russian advance into Ukraine continues. We hear from Roman Kruglyakov, a resident of Mariupol who fled to a nearby village at the beginning of the war. He tells us how he’s been travelling to and from the city in his car to get family members and whoever he can out of the city, detailing the...

Eight years after Crimea was annexed, Vladimir Putin has given a speech to a packed stadium in Moscow, praising Russia’s soldiers in Ukraine. Victoria, Gabriel and Vitaly speak to the BBC Ukrainian Service’s Anastasia Gribanova. War has caused the breakdown of her relationship with her pro-Russian parents in eastern Ukraine and with her cousin who’s fighting for the other side. She's in Lviv, whic...

Ukraine has accused Russian forces of bombing a theatre filled with sheltering civilians in the city of Mariupol. Gabriel and Vitaly speak to Dmytro Gurin, a Ukrainian MP from Mariupol, to find out what happened. They’re also joined by Bridget Kendall, former BBC Moscow correspondent and diplomatic correspondent, to understand how we got to the point where Joe Biden is calling Vladimir Putin a war...

Shortly after Ukraine’s president’s historic address to the US Congress, Gabriel And Victoria talk to Nina Khruscheva, Professor of International Affairs at the New School in New York – and the granddaughter of former Soviet ruler Nikita Khrushchev - for her insight into Russia’s exit strategy. 20,000 people have been evacuated from the city of Mariupol, which has been under siege for the last two...

More Russian strikes have hit residential buildings in Kyiv. As tower blocks burn, Mayor Vitaly Klitschko has announced a 35-hour curfew, warning of “a difficult and dangerous moment”. Victoria, Gabriel and Vitaly get the latest on the ground and hear from surgeon Dr Andrey Vysotskyi, who has hardly stopped working since we last spoke to him. Meanwhile, with a Russian journalist facing a fine for...

A new attack at the border of Poland sparks fears of further escalation by Russian forces, as Vitaly updates us on what’s happened over the weekend. Meanwhile, footage from Mariupol shows the effects of being under siege for the past ten days, with Ukrainian authorities claiming over 2,500 deaths in the city. As many flee, the remaining residents are unable to be contacted due to regular power out...

The BBC’s Fergal Keane presents today’s episode of Ukrainecast from Lviv in western Ukraine – thousands of refugees are flowing through the city as they try to leave the country. He’s joined by the BBC's Abdujalil Abdurasulov, who’s in Kyiv as Russian forces continue to slowly advance, and Kevin Connolly, former Moscow BBC correspondent. They discuss Russia’s strategy to take Kyiv and who Putin’s...

"There's no safe place in Ukraine anymore." Ukraine’s western cities of Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk have been hit. There are scenes of destruction too in Dnipro, a strategic centre, as Russian forces widen their attacks across the country. Military expert Justin Bronk talks Victoria, Gabriel and Vitaly through Russia’s progress. We also hear from a 19-year-old student in Lutsk who thought he was saf...

Fact vs. propaganda... Vic, Gabriel and Vitaliy discuss the peace talks in Turkey, the aftermath of the bombing in Mariupol, and why every bit of info coming out of the conflict needs to be treated with scepticism. The White House have expressed concerns that Russia might use chemical weapons to speed up the invasion of Ukraine. But where does their intelligence come from? Chemical weapons expert,...

A maternity ward and children’s ward at a hospital in Mariupol have been destroyed in a Russian air strike, according to officials there. At the moment we don’t know how many people have died. Russia editor at BBC Monitoring Vitaly Shevchenko and Abdujalil Abdurasulov, who’s a video journalist with the BBC in Kyiv, join Victoria and Gabriel to discuss which cities are being targeted. Also, BBC Wor...

We link up with the BBC World Service... On the 13th day of the Russian invasion into Ukraine we collaborate with the Global News Podcast to answer your questions. Jackie Leonard (from the GNP), alongside Gabriel Gatehouse and Vitaliy Shevchenko (from UC), guide us through questions about the historical context of the war, the nuclear threat, and the information war. BBC Chief International corres...

In the north of Ukraine, a convoy of Russian vehicles appears to be stalling as it attempts to advance on the capital Kyiv. Russian military expert at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies Dr Katarzyna Zysk tells Victoria and Gabriel why that may be and how it is impacting Russia’s strategy. Last Thursday, we spoke to Hussein, a Pakistani man who lives in Kherson in the south with his wife a...

Victoria catches up with Fergal Keane, who is in Lviv in the West of Ukraine, where thousands of refugees are at the station trying to get out of the country. Despite a planned ceasefire in two southern cities, Fergal explains why evacuations had to be halted because of continued Russian shelling. They are joined by Kevin Connolly, former BBC correspondent in Moscow and Patricia Lewis, Director of...

Europe’s biggest nuclear powerplant is hit by shelling, but a nuclear disaster is avoided. We hear from BBC Monitoring’s Vitaly Shevchenko, whose mother’s balcony in Zaporizhzhia looks out on the facility. Meanwhile in Kyiv, after a difficult night of air strikes, Max sends us a voice memo about his plans to leave the capital with his family. Also, Victoria speaks to Chief International Correspond...

Russian forces have taken control of the key port city of Kherson. And at another port, Mariupol, people are now trapped by intense bombardments. Victoria speaks to a Kherson resident about what it’s like suddenly living under Russian rule. Jonah Fisher, who until recently was the BBC’s Kyiv correspondent, charts the rise of Volodymyr Zelensky from Paddington Bear actor to wartime president, and w...

Ukraine’s key cities of Kherson, Kharkiv and Mariupol have come under intense attack. Victoria and Vitaly speak to a young woman in Kharkiv, Anna, who’s afraid her home could be bombed. Journalist and author Gavin Esler says some anti-war critics in Russia have been arrested, and explains which other countries are worried about being targeted. Today’s Ukrainecast was made by Phil Marzouk and Natal...