Ukrainecast

Saturday marks exactly two years of this conflict. On today’s special episode, recorded in collaboration with the Global News Podcast, BBC experts from across the world answer YOUR questions on the war. Today’s episode is presented by Oliver Conway and Vitaly Shevchenko, with the BBC’s chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet, in Kyiv, Russia editor Steve Rosenberg in Moscow and BBC Verify’s...

In today’s Ukrainecast, the latest in our week of daily episodes to mark two years since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, Vitaly speaks to Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US Ambassador to the UN. They discuss what America can realistically do to help bring the war to an end, if - and when - the $60bn of promised aid will actually get to Ukraine and what a Donald Trump presidency could mean f...

For this special episode, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, tells us what it was like sitting at the UN table as news of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine broke. He also talks to Victoria and Vitaly about how much power the UN has, whether it can stop the war and if accusations that it’s just a ‘talking shop’ hold any weight. They also look to the future and how pe...

Russia's election commission has disqualified anti-war challenger Boris Nadezhdin from standing as a candidate in next month's presidential vote. He joins Victoria and Vitaly to discuss why he was barred, why he won’t stop campaigning for peace and his vow to follow in the footsteps of fierce Putin critic Alexei Navalny following his death. Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and V...

Last November we were joined in the studio by Ukrainian journalist and writer, Mstyslav Chernov, who made the film '20 Days in Mariupol’. It’s just won the Oscar for Best Documentary feature, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to remind you of the episode. He described what it was like to shoot the documentary from inside Mariupol, and chronicles the Russian invasion of the Ukrainian por...

Putin’s main rival, opposition politician Alexei Navalny, is dead according to the Russian prison service. An outspoken critic of the Russian leader, Navalny, 47, was serving a 19-year sentence in a Siberian jail when his death was announced on Friday morning. BBC correspondent Sarah Rainsford, who was herself expelled from Russia, explains what we know so far - and if the Kremlin could face any c...

Sashko and his mum were separated after being captured by Russian soldiers in Mariupol. Now 13, Sashko hasn’t seen or heard from his mother for almost two years. Along with his grandmother, he tells Victoria and Irena their story and how they’ve not given up on their search for her. And are Nato members pulling their weight when it comes to defence spending? Donald Trump claims he’d encourage host...

In his first interview with a Western reporter since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, Russian president Vladimir Putin sat down with former Fox News host-turned-online commentator Tucker Carlson. Over the course of a two-hour long, sometimes rambling, interview, Putin gave a 30-minute history lesson and said that ending the war is “simple” - the West just needs to stop supplying weapons t...

Ten years ago this month Crimea was occupied and then annexed by Russia. We find out what it’s like to live there now. We also speak to journalist, film-maker and Russia specialist, Nick Sturdee. He’s interviewed families who have relatives currently being held prisoner in Crimea. Victoria and Vitaly also chat to Maria Tomak, head of the Crimea Platform, which is based in Ukraine and tries to rais...

As Ukraine’s much discussed mobilisation bill returns to parliament, we catch up with friend of the podcast and student Vitalii Pashchenko, to find out how he and his friends feel about the conscription age being lowered from 27 to 25. He tells us about life in Kyiv, and why his family have decided to return to Ukraine after fleeing to Poland at the start of the war. Vitaly also speaks to Ukraine’...

The latest series of the award-winning BBC documentary Putin vs The West delves into the first year of the war through the eyes of some of its key figures - including President Zelensky, then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Director Tim Stirzaker explains the challenges of documenting a war when it’s very much on-go...

After the downing of the Russian plane on Wednesday, Vitaly speaks to Petro Yatsenko, the Ukrainian spokesman for the coordination for the treatment of prisoners of war. Victoria and Vitaly also discuss the successes of his team’s ‘I want to live’ hotline that helps Russian soldiers defect. And they’re joined by author and Time correspondent, Simon Shuster, to talk about his new book ‘The Showman’...

A Russian plane has been shot down near the Russian-Ukraine border. Russia claims it was carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war, who were on their way to a prisoner swap. Ukraine claims it wasn’t told to secure airspace around Belgorod for the transportation of PoWs, as has happened in previous prisoner swaps. Earlier, Ukraine had claimed the plane had been carrying Russian weapons. So, who is to bla...

Several cities in Ukraine were hit this morning in the latest wave of Russian missile attacks, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens more. The assaults come after a series of blasts at the weekend in Russian-held Donetsk and St Petersburg. The BBC’s Ukraine correspondent, James Waterhouse, and BBC Monitoring’s Russia reporter, Francis Scarr, explain the significance of attacks on Russi...

With little progress being made on either side of the front line, Ukraine is also facing a challenge when it comes to the recruitment of new soldiers. A bill to increase the number of people who would be eligible to be conscripted recently stalled in the Ukrainian parliament. Victoria and Vitaly speak to Lily, who hasn’t seen her husband for nearly two years, after he volunteered to fight at the s...

Lyudmila Huseynova was living and working in the Ukrainian border town of Novoazovs’k when she was arrested in 2019. As a Ukrainian patriot who refused to accept Russian citizenship, her actions angered Russian-backed separatists in the area, and she was taken to the notorious Izolyatsia prison. She tells Victoria and Vitaly about life in one of the world's most infamous prisons, and how she found...

The UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, announced the military aid package on a surprise visit to Ukraine where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv. James Landale is travelling with the PM and sent us an update from on the ground. The Economist’s Defence editor, Shashank Joshi, is back with us to help explain what the visit and the money means. And we get reaction to how this has been rec...

What’s it like living in the Russian city under attack? We hear from a man in Belgorod, the Russian border city that Ukraine is targeting with missiles. Twenty-five people were killed and more than 100 others hurt there on 30 December, in what was one of the deadliest attacks on Russia since the full scale invasion. Missiles continue to be fired. Russia editor Steve Rosenberg is on to tell us how...

Anna Olsen was working as an army paramedic in Ukraine’s 36th Brigade when she was captured by Russian forces during the siege of Mariupol. The mother-of-one experienced psychological and physical torture before she was released in a prisoner exchange, after more than six months in Russian captivity. She tells us her story. And the BBC’s Security Correspondent, Frank Gardner, explains the importan...

An update on the major aerial assaults by both sides. Today’s episode is presented by Vitaly Shevchenko, Olga Robinson and James Waterhouse. The producer was Cordelia Hemming. The technical producers were Matt Hewitt and Ricardo McCarthy. The series producer is Lucy Boast. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a mes...

As the war in Ukraine approaches its second anniversary, what does 2024 hold for the conflict? BBC correspondents from across the world join us for a one-off special, looking at how elections in the UK, US and Russia will affect funding and the frontline. Europe editor Katya Adler, Russia editor Steve Rosenberg, Ukraine correspondent James Waterhouse and US State Department correspondent Barbara P...

What's it like to fight for your country over the festive season, when the rest of the world is celebrating with their family and friends? We hear from an officer who heads an artillery reconnaissance team about what last Christmas was like - and his hopes for this holiday. And Chef Zhenya has set up a military kitchen in Zaporizhya that makes 68,000 meals a week for a military unit. He tells us h...

We revisit the bedtime story programme for children separated from loved ones because of the war in Ukraine. We speak to Maryna, who is living in The Netherlands with her daughter, while her parents are still in Kyiv. They explain how important it is to hear family voices reading traditional Ukrainian stories. Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers...

It’s our final episode before Christmas and Ukrainecast has invited some of the Songs for Ukraine chorus, from London's Royal Opera House, to join us in the Radio 3 Classical Music studio. As well as singing two traditional Ukrainian Christmas carols, we hear the stories of four members of the choir and conductor Danny Parashchak explains the importance of the songs. Today’s episode is presented b...

A new investigation by BBC Eye, using just open source material and social media posts, follows the journey of a young Russian solider - from his conscription and training to his disappearance on the bloody Ukrainian front-line. Journalist Ned Davies reveals how they produced the shocking documentary. And despite still being at war, Ukraine has started to re-build damaged cities like Bucha - often...