Episode description

Vitaly's home town is struck

Two areas of the southern city of Zaporizhzhia have been struck by Russian missiles, leaving one person dead and three others wounded. Whilst Russian forces are centering their offensive on Eastern Ukraine, Russian forces are now in control of much of the big Zaporizhzhia region in Ukraine’s South. We hear from Kostyantyn, a factory worker from Zaporizhya who describes waking up to the sound of explosions during the night.

Also, we speak to the mayor of Meritopol Ivan Federov who was abducted and held by Russian forces for five days before being freed in a prisoner swap.

And we answer listener questions on conscription and President Putin’s ambitions as well as getting the latest from Davos.

Vitaly and Lewis are joined by Kateryna Khinkulova from BBC World Service who is from Kyiv.

Today’s Ukrainecast was made by Estelle Doyle with Osman Iqbal, Louise Hidalgo and Clare Williamson. The technical producer was Emma Crowe. The editor was Sam Bonham.

You can email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments or send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 1234 220.