Episode description

Victoria and Vitaly are joined by Zhanna Bezpiatchuk from the BBC Ukrainian service, who travelled to Irpin to investigate allegations of war crimes. There she heard accounts of violence against civilians, of shootings and summary executions - including the killing of a young woman in a red coat. Her body remained in the street for four weeks - lying where she had been trampled not once, but over and over again, under the wheels of Russian armoured vehicles. A food shopping list was found in her coat pocket.

UNICEF’s James Elder explains how over one hundred days of war have ‘wrought devastating consequences for children at a scale not seen since World War II’. The agency says 70% of Ukrainian children are displaced by fighting.

And, Mykola Bielieskov, from the National Institute for Strategic Studies in Kyiv, explains why he believes the long-range rocket artillery promised by the US and the UK won’t be enough to stabilise the front line, even less to push the Russian troops back.

This episode of Ukrainecast was made by Estelle Doyle with Osman Iqbal and Alix Pickles. The technical producer was Michael Regaard. The editor is Jonathan Aspinwall. Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 0330 1239480.