Episode description

Tens of thousands of civilians and Russian appointed officials are being moved out of the occupied city of Kherson, raising fears of what might happen next.

Belkis Wilke from Human Rights Watch spoke to dozens of civilians from the recently liberated town of Izyum. She tells Lucy and Vitaly how they described beatings, electric shocks, and waterboarding in the hands of Russian occupiers.

And, amidst reports that Iran is ramping up its military support to Russia by allegedly supplying it with drones, missiles and training, we discuss what may motivate it to do so with Alex Vatanka, director of Iran programme at the Middle East Institute at Washington DC.

Today’s Ukrainecast was presented by Lucy Hockings and Vitaly Shevchenko.

It was made by Ivana Davidovic, Luke Radcliffe and Arsenii Sokolov. The technical director was Emma Crowe. The series producer is Estelle Doyle and 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, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480.