Episode description

An exiled journalist’s tale of pain and love of Russia…

Elena Kostyuchenko speaks to Victoria and Vitaly about reporting on the war in Ukraine, having a hit put out on her and German authorities launching an investigation into her attempted murder after she experienced a sudden - and debilitating - mysterious illness.

Also, Russia Editor Steve Rosenberg discusses what a trip to the hairdresser revealed about Russian public attitudes to the war, President Putin’s latest calendar and an update on an old friend of his.

Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Keiligh Baker, Arsenii Sokolov and Ivana Davidovic. The technical producer was Phil Bull. The series producer is Tim Walklate. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480

You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord