Ukrainecast

Donald Trump has won the US election and will make a historic return to the White House. He’s said he’d end the war in 24 hours but…..can he? We hear from Ukraine correspondent James Waterhouse in Kyiv, Russia editor Steve Rosenberg in Sochi and Victoria in Washington DC. They discuss what Trump’s re-election actually mean for Ukraine. Today’s episode is presented by Lucy Hockings and Vitaly Shevc...

America goes to the polls – but what could that mean for the future of US politics… and Ukraine? The veteran Watergate journalist, Bob Woodward, joins us to talk about his latest book, ‘War’. He’s spent the last couple of years talking to people inside the Biden administration and shares his insights on what he learned about how they planned for and dealt with the aftermath of the full-scale invas...

Two men's stories of avoiding the draft. To satisfy a growing need for soldiers, authorities in Ukraine appear to be taking ever more drastic measures, including forcibly pulling men off the street to check their credentials. But many men in Ukraine feel the war is not for them, and decide to flee overseas rather than to stay and fight. We speak to Artem and Oleh, two young men who avoided the dra...

Is peace with Russia possible? Could any North Korean involvement in the war mean escalation? And has the world ever been more dangerous in recent times? In his first BBC interview since standing down as chief of the general staff, General Sir Patrick Sanders joins us to discuss why he thinks the world order is under threat and why Ukraine must prevail. Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Der...

What do digital trails tell us about the conflict? How did TikTok videos help identify Russian troop movements ahead of the full-scale invasion? And what’s it like to draw the ire of the Kremlin? The Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins also tells Victoria and Vitaly whether he’s a CIA spy and where the name of his organisation came from. And, are North Korean troops being sent to Russia’s frontline?...

As President Zelensky conducts a whistle stop tour of Europe…. we answer your questions on whether the West is out of touch with the reality of the war and what impact elections in the US and Europe could have on support for Ukraine’s war effort. Victoria is joined by our correspondent in Kyiv Sarah Rainsford and Cold War historian Sergey Radchenko. Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbysh...

How could peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine pan out and are they even a possibility right now? Conflict negotiator Oliver McTernan and former UK ambassador to Russia Sir Laurie Bristow discuss the likelihood of both countries coming to the table and what role the US presidential election could play. Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and James Waterhouse. The producers...

Russia has revealed it will boost its defence spending by a quarter to $145 billion in 2025. But is Putin’s war economy sustainable? What does all this mean for life in the country? And how could it impact the war? The BBC’s Steve Rosenberg joins us from a Moscow supermarket, Russian citizen ‘Gleb’ explains why there are dozens of types of cola in shops, and Bloomberg’s Stephanie Baker joins Carne...

Ambassador John Bolton, who served as National Security Adviser under President Donald Trump, tells Ukrainecast that another Trump presidency would leave Ukraine in a very difficult position and that if re-elected Trump would cut off US aid. He also warns against the democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, insisting that neither option would be good for Ukraine’s fight against Russia. An...

Donald Trump has held a last-minute meeting with President Zelensky despite repeated criticism of the Ukrainian leader on the campaign trail, and a row which erupted with with the Republican party. So is the former president hardening his stance on Ukraine? And how do Ukrainians feel about the forthcoming US election? Victoria and Vitaly are joined by Americast co-presenter Anthony Zurcher and two...

President Zelensky’s in the US for a diplomatic mission to try and sell President Biden his ‘victory plan’. But what’s in it? And can he persuade the Americans to back it? Two friends of the pod, defence expert Matthew Savill and Russia expert Angela Stent, join Lyse to assess how it might go down with the President, and the two candidates hoping to succeed him, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Tod...

More than half of Ukrainians say they suffer from some kind of mental health issue as a result of the war. Volunteer paramedic, Olha Mamusheva, joins us to discuss her mental health working on the frontline. And journalist Olena Kuk explains why she helped set up ‘Svidok’ – an online war journal where people can share their feelings anonymously. Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire...

Sasha Skochilenko spent over two years behind Russian bars before being part of the biggest prisoner exchange since the Cold War. She explains why supermarkets are effective places for protest, what helped her survive in prison and how western prisoners were put in business class on the flight home following her release. And a friend of Ukrainecast makes a surprise appearance… Today’s episode is p...

The former head of the CIA, General David Petraeus, tells Ukrainecast why he thinks President Putin is bluffing after he warned the West against allowing Ukraine to use long-range weapons to target Russia. Lucy is in Washington DC where the UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, is meeting President Biden to discuss Ukraine. There are strong indications that they will agree to lift restrictions on U...

Your questions answered on the US election, Pokrovsk and guerrilla warfare… With Donald Trump and Kamala Harris facing-off in their only scheduled presidential debate this week, we assess whether the election might accelerate any potential peace deal in Ukraine. BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera joins Vitaly and Lucy to also discuss how strategically important the capture of Pokrovsk is for...

With Russia launching nearly daily attacks against Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, the UK’s former defence secretary, Sir Ben Wallace, is in the Ukrainecast studio to give his take on what the strikes signify. He also reflects on his visit to Moscow which took place just 10 days before the full-scale invasion. And we hear from residents in Lviv and Kyiv who were hit by the attacks this week. Tod...

A Russian missile strike has killed dozens of people in the Ukrainian city of Poltava. Hundreds more are reported to have been wounded in what Ukraine's Ministry of Defence has called a "barbaric attack". We have the latest updates and analysis as the story unfolds. Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Clare Williamson, Cordelia Hemming and...

Has Kyiv’s gamble to take Kursk paid off? Lyse and Vitaly examine whether Russian advances on the key Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk raise questions about the success of the cross-border incursion, as well as answer some of your questions. And we hear from Ukraine's Paralympic swimmer, Yaroslav Denysenko, who shares how the Russian full-scale invasion has impacted his life and training. Today’s episod...

Russia has launched another wave of strikes on Ukraine, with at least four people killed, a day after one of its biggest air attacks of the war. We assess whether the strikes are a retaliation for Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region which began three weeks ago. Nicholas Connolly, correspondent for Deutsche Welle, gives us the view from Kyiv, just one of the areas targeted. He also recently v...

Broadcaster and writer Stephen Fry has travelled to Ukraine to see how war is impacting the country’s mental health. He joins Lyse and Vitaly in the studio to discuss his new documentary ‘Stephen Fry into Ukraine’, in which he speaks to those affected and asks whether there is sufficient government support. He also reflects on his own struggles with mental health and why Ukraine matters to him. ‘S...

Ukrainian forces entered Russia two weeks ago, but just how vulnerable has their advance left them? We hear from Ostap, a Ukrainian Officer on the frontline in Pokrovsk. And English teacher, Anastasia tells us how the incursion has left Ukrainians feeling in Kharkiv. Plus, BBC Ukraine correspondent, James Waterhouse, is on hand to help us understand what’s been happening on the Ukraine-Russia bord...

What’s life like in Kursk, following Ukraine’s cross-border offensive? We hear from Zhenya, a Kursk resident, who gives us a rare glimpse into life in the region since the Ukrainian incursion began. And the defence expert Matthew Savill from the Royal United Services Institute is in the studio to answer your listener questions. What’s Kursk like? How long can Ukraine feasibly hold it? And is a Rus...

How has the shock cross-border offensive gone down in Russia? We hear from Nikita, whose family and friends live in Kursk, about what they’ve been witnessing and how worried they are. BBC Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg, tells us how this is going down in the Kremlin and what President Putin might down next And Olga Robinson from BBC Verify is in the studio to help us understand the picture more cl...

Does Ukraine’s cross-border offensive mark a new chapter in the conflict? Reports suggest that Ukrainian troops are operating more than 10km inside Russian territory - the deepest cross-border advance by Kyiv since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. The BBC’s Ukraine Correspondent James Waterhouse discusses what might be the reasons behind this new direction for Ukraine? And...

We’re joined by war correspondent, Luke Harding, who has reported extensively from Ukraine and Russia for the Guardian. He was in Ukraine the moment Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, and has since been following developments on the ground. He gives his take on the past, present and future of the war. We also discuss the long anticipated arrival of the American-made F-16 fig...