Episode description

Why one man says he’s turned his back on Moscow to fight with Ukraine.

We speak to "Apostle", a member of the Liberty of Russia Legion, one of the groups reportedly responsible for the cross-border raids in the Russian city of Belgorod earlier this year.

The FT’s Ukraine correspondent Christopher Miller is in the studio to discuss his new book and reflect on his time in the Pokrovsk, in Ukraine, where at least seven people lost their lives in an overnight attack by Russia.

And BBC Verify’s Olga Robinson talks about why Russians are hunting for cheap flats in the occupied city of Mariupol.

Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Arsenii Sokolov, Ivana Davidovic and Sam McLaren. The technical producer was Gareth Jones. The series producer is Tim Walklate. The senior news editors are Jonathan Aspinwall and 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.

TOPICS:

01:54 - Pokrovsk attack 06:00 - Mariupol residents 12:33 - Listener questions 16:30 - Russian fighter