Moscow claims Kremlin drones were attempt by Kyiv to kill Putin. Vitaly and BBC Moscow’s Will Vernon discuss what happened when two drones appeared to strike at the Kremlin. Russia called the incident ‘a planned terrorist attack’ and said it constituted ‘an assassination attempt’ on President Putin. Ukraine has denied any involvement. If true, who could be behind it? Today’s episode is presented by Vitaliy Shevchenko and Will Vernon. The technical producer is Dafydd Evans. The series producer is...
May 03, 2023•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast Clubs in Kyiv and Liverpool are linking up for a simultaneous rave this weekend to celebrate Eurovision and show their solidarity. Hot Chip, DJ James Lavelle and experimental Ukrainian DJ Mingulitka will all be performing. Organisers Jez Collins and Vlad Yaremchuk explain how they have to work with the midnight curfew in Kyiv and how the ravers in both locations will be able to see each other on the dancefloor. Also, the BBC’s cyber correspondent Joe Tidy reflects on his recent visit to Ukraine ...
May 02, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast A three-year-old girl and her mum have been killed in the latest Russian attacks, according to the mayor of Dnipro. Officials said more children were killed in an attack that hit a block of flats in the central city of Uman. James Waterhouse brings us the latest. We also hear from a friend of Evan Gershkovich, the American journalist held in Russia on espionage charges. And Francis Scarr from BBC Monitoring tells us about Russia’s glossy new ads to encourage men to sign up for the military, and ...
Apr 28, 2023•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast How did Russia respond to the world’s worst nuclear accident? As the anniversary looms, and the International Atomic Energy Agency warns of worrying military activity in Ukraine’s current nuclear reactor, Vitaly recalls the Soviet response to the world’s worst nuclear accident. The BBC’s James Waterhouse updates us on the latest military moves in Ukraine. And we hear from musician Brad Paisley about what it was like performing for President Volodymyr Zelensky. Today’s episode is presented by Vic...
Apr 25, 2023•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Explosions, mines and sonar could be harming endangered marine life in the Black Sea, according to scientists at a university in Poland. We speak to Ewa Węgrzyn, a professor of zoology who’s conducted the research. The BBC’s Frank Gardner talks to us about ghost spy ships and whether Russia could be using them to monitor key infrastructure sites in the North Sea for possible sabotage. And we hear from chef Yevhen Klopotenko, the unofficial ‘ambassador’ of Ukrainian cuisine, who delivers the fina...
Apr 21, 2023•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast The BBC has been calculating the number of Russians who have died in the war and civilian recruits make up a third of their frontline losses. Olga Ivshina of BBC Russian and Mark Urban, diplomatic editor at Newsnight, explain what this means for Russian families and the course of the conflict. And we hear from the director of the Kherson regional art museum, Alina Dotsenko, about the moment its treasures were taken away in unmarked vehicles. Today’s episode is presented by Lyse Doucet and Vitaly...
Apr 18, 2023•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast More than 10,000 Ukrainian civilians have been trained as soldiers by the British army here in the UK. Documentary maker Stacey Dooley shares the stories of one cohort who she followed through their intense five-week course. And 21-year-old Jack Teixeira has been charged over the leak of confidential US intelligence documents. He faces up to 15 years in prison. Russia expert, Prof Mark Galeotti talks us through the latest developments, what it could mean for the war and the shadowy figures vying...
Apr 14, 2023•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Could the leak of secret Pentagon documents affect the course of the war in Ukraine? Defence expert Sam de Bendern gives her analysis of the US national security breach and we hear about another Russian dissident facing 25 years in prison for criticising the war. The BBC Ukraine correspondent James Waterhouse has been in Kharkiv to see the de-mining efforts as so-called butterfly bombs continue to injure civilians. And we have an aural treat in the shape of YouTube project: How Does Ukraine Soun...
Apr 11, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Elya describes how she took her eight-year-old niece out of Ukraine after a missile hit her home in Kharkiv last year. Elya was just 17 at the time. Now she’s returned to visit her parents and says: “It’s the most times I’ve seen my father cry.” The BBC’s Francis Scarr reports on the assassination of a pro-war blogger in St Petersburg, a defection and suggestions that Ukraine may be willing to negotiate over Crimea. And Ivan Chuvilyaev explains how the group Idite Lesom (Go By the Forest) is hel...
Apr 06, 2023•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast LONG: BBC Moscow’s Will Vernon gives Lyse and Vitaly the latest on the murder of a pro-war blogger in St Petersburg and a growing spate of people denouncing family, colleagues and strangers. Vitaly speaks to Tetyana Sokolova, a midwife in a Mariupol maternity hospital that kept the wards open while the city lost water, gas and electricity. And as Finland ends 70 years of official strategic neutrality by joining the Nato military alliance, former Finnish PM, Alexander Stubb says Putin only has hi...
Apr 04, 2023•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Wall Street Journal has vehemently denied allegations one of its reporters is a spy, after he was detained in Russia. The BBC’s Eastern Europe correspondent Sarah Rainsford, who was herself expelled from Russia as a national security threat, tells us this is a worrying development. Francis Dearnley of the Telegraph’s podcast Ukraine: The Latest, joins Vitaly and Frank to discuss the geopolitics of the Ukraine war and we answer your questions on the ingredients of borscht. Today’s episode is ...
Mar 31, 2023•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast After witnessing and reporting on war crimes around the world, Janine di Giovani realised that journalists like her were often among the first people to arrive at the scene of atrocities. So she linked up with fellow journalist, Natalya Gamenyuk, to set up the Reckoning Project. Their aim - to teach reporters how to gather evidence and testimonies that can be used later in court. Irena Taranyuk from the BBC Ukrainian Service answers a listener’s questions about how Ukrainian farmers are coping. ...
Mar 28, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast What would a Ron DeSantis presidency mean for Ukraine? The Republican governor of Florida has been giving mixed messages on Ukraine, and he could one day be president. Justin Webb, host of Americast, tells us why this matters, and Alex Roarty of the Miami Herald tells us who is he and what he stands for. Also, as Ukraine takes on England in the latest round of Euro qualifiers, Andrew Todos, a Ukrainian British football journalist, tells us about how the beaufiful game is faring during a time of ...
Mar 24, 2023•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Russia claims a Chinese plan for peace could be the basis for an end to hostilities. China expert, Isabel Hilton, and Arkady Ostrovsky, The Economist’s Russia editor, discuss China’s emerging role in the war, and what this might mean for Ukraine and the West. As President Putin visits occupied Mariupol, we talk to Odesa MP Oleksiy Goncharenko about how he felt seeing the Russian leader on Ukrainian soil. And Arkady talks through his podcast, Next Year in Moscow. Today’s episode is presented by V...
Mar 21, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes in Ukraine We also get an update from Bakhmut, the devastated city on the front line, and we speak to a woman whose husband was killed defending it last year. Through her organisation, Maemo Zhiti, Oksana now helps support other bereaved women across Ukraine. Frank Gardner, the BBC’s security correspondent, brings Victoria and Vitaly up to date on the US drone brought down ov...
Mar 17, 2023•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Teacher, Anna Ohoiko, joins us to give listeners - and Victoria - a lesson in the Ukrainian language. The BBC’s diplomatic correspondent James Landale is in Kyiv and tells us that Ukrainians are beginning to question whether to stay and fight in Bakhmut, or retreat and regroup. And he tells us about a new bar that’s opened in Kyiv as people show their determination to keep living. And who is the Russian Volunteer Corps? BBC Russia’s Liza Fokht tries to shed some light on the Russian group fighti...
Mar 14, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast A year after Mariupol’s maternity hospital was bombed, Russia is spending huge amounts of money rebuilding the city. Vitaly speaks to residents living under Russian occupation. Paul Adams, the BBC’s world affairs correspondent, assesses the latest barrage of missile attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. And John Mearsheimer, professor of political science at the University of Chicago, explains why he blames Nato and the West for the war in Ukraine. Today’s episode is presented by Lucy Hockings an...
Mar 10, 2023•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ukrainian musicians describe their journey to sanctuary at the London Performing Academy of Music. The organisation brought more than 50 students to the UK including Nikita Vikhorev and Yuliia Humeniuk. Nikita describes his violin as his weapon. Also, the BBC’s Tim Whewell and author Ian Garner discuss “Z” culture and fascism in today’s Russia and what the state narrative means for the next generation. Today’s episode is presented by Lucy Hockings and Vitaliy Shevchenko. The producers were Natas...
Mar 07, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Grief, trauma and poverty have become the norm for millions of Ukrainian children after a year of war. James Elder of Unicef has just returned from Lviv and says that the situation is going from bad to worse. And BBC Newsround’s Ricky Boleto tells us about the courage of Ukrainian children who are determined to continue their studies despite the war. We also get an update from Frank Gardner, the BBC security correspondent, on the situation in Bakhmut and how the war in Ukraine overshadowed talks...
Mar 03, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Lives upended by war. As the conflict enters its second year, we hear stories of some of the lives transformed by war. Maria Drovnenkova, from the BBC's Panorama, tells Victoria and Vitaliy about the Ukrainians whose video diaries captured the first year of the war. We receive an update from 20-year-old student Maksym Lutsyk, who is now serving in Ukraine’s armed forces on the frontline in the east. And Francis Scarr, from BBC Monitoring, joins us in the studio to tell us how the anniversary of ...
Feb 28, 2023•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ukrainians gather for a special broadcast at the BBC Radio Theatre, hosted by Ukrainecast and Newsnight. They share their fears for families at home, feelings of guilt about escaping to safety and the need for justice. Host Victoria Derbyshire, BBC Monitoring’s Russia editor Vitaly Shevchenko and Newsnight’s diplomatic editor Mark Urban reflect on the past year and discuss what the next 12 months could bring. This episode was made by Ben Carter, Luke Radcliff, Clare Williamson, Natasha Fernandes...
Feb 24, 2023•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this special edition of Ukrainecast, we’re giving over the entire episode to trying to answer the questions you’ve been sending us about this war - how it might develop, what could bring it to a halt, how Ukraine is weathering the invasion, how Russia is changing in light of its invasion, and - of course - what might lay in wait for President Putin. Steve Rosenberg, Ukrainecast’s man in Moscow, Irena Taranyuk of the BBC’s Ukrainian Service, and Paul Adams, who covers the world for the BBC, jo...
Feb 23, 2023•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ukrainecast comes together with Putin, the BBC Sounds and Radio 4 podcast which examines the life, times, motives and modus operandi of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. Returning to the show are three lifelong Kremlin-watchers to cast ahead and speculate on just how this war might develop. Professor Nina Kruscheva is an historian at The New School in New York and the great grand-daughter of Nikita Kruschev, Sir Laurie Bristow was the UK’s Amabassador to Moscow from 2016-2020, and Vitaly Shevchenko ...
Feb 22, 2023•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast One year in to the war, President Putin addresses Russian parliament with his state of the union address. In it he points the finger at the West for the Ukraine War and says Russia will suspend its involvement in a nuclear treaty with the US. And we get two very up-close and personal accounts of the war - the first from the British Ambassador to Ukraine, Dame Melinda Simmons, and the second from the UK news anchor, Clive Myrie. Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaliy Shev...
Feb 21, 2023•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast From a Russian prison to Pizza Express. Victoria speaks with 17-year-old Vlad, who was taken prisoner by the Russians and held for three months at the start of the war. We hear about how he and his family coped, their new life in England, and their hopes for the future. Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire as part of a series of episodes marking the one-year anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine. The producers were Arsenii Sokolov, Clare Williamson and Luke Radcliffe The ...
Feb 20, 2023•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ukraine and Russia swap POWs in a rare act of compassion, and the BBC’s James Waterhouse gets to visit a Ukrainian facility where Russian soldiers are being held. We also hear from Emma Vardy about her documentary on British men who have volunteered to sign up to fight with Ukrainian soldiers. She tells us about what drives them and what the families they leave behind. Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaliy Shevchenko. The producers were Arsenii Sokolov, Clare Williamson...
Feb 17, 2023•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Kalush Orchestra on winning Eurovision, touring the world and meeting Arnold Schwarzenegger’s donkey. The BBC’s Orla Guerin gives us a close up account of life on the frontline in Bakhmut as Russia throws everything to claim this symbolic city and how are relations between Presidents Xi and Putin after a year of war in Ukraine? China expert, Dr Yu Jie from Chatham House gives her views. Today’s episode is presented by Adam Fleming and Vitaliy Shevchenko. The producers were Arsenii Sokolov, Clare...
Feb 14, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast A Russian man determined to avoid mobilisation tells us he’s living in the forest so the authorities can’t find him and force him to fight. His wife delivers food and he has set up solar panels so he can carry on working as a software engineer from his tent. The BBC’s world affairs editor Paul Adams has been out with Ukrainian engineers who are trying to keep homes and businesses connected to electricity as Russia continues to attack power stations. And psychologist Olena Kovalchuk explains how ...
Feb 10, 2023•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Listen to his Westminster speech in full. Victoria and Vitaly come together to talk through Zelensky's first visit to the UK since Russia invaded his country. Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaliy Shevchenko. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Fiona Leach. 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 0330 12...
Feb 08, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Unpicking history and propaganda to understand ordinary Russians and their attitude to the war with Russia expert Dr Jade McGlynn. James Waterhouse in Kyiv brings us up to date on what’s happening in the East of Ukraine around Bakhmut and President Zelensky’s corruption clampdown and Frank Gardner appraises the progress of Russia’s so-called Spring offensive. Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaliy Shevchenko. The producers were Arsenii Sokolov, Clare Williamson and Josh ...
Feb 07, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
