Episode description

A mother’s quest to bring her dead son home. Anastasiya Gribanova from the BBC’s Ukrainian Service has been talking to two mothers about the lengths they had to go to find the bodies of their dead sons.

Allies fail to reach an agreement over sending German-made tanks to Ukraine. We get the latest from the meeting of Western defence officials in Ramstein and hear from historian and cold war expert Sergey Radchenko on whether Russia can be defeated.

Alexei, formerly known as Jimmy or James, tells us that life in Kherson continues to be dangerous despite being liberated in November.

And Leeds-born Ukrainian, Olga, tells listener Brent to bring his mum’s knitted hats to her community centre.

Today’s episode is presented by Lucy Hockings and Vitaliy Shevchenko. The producers were Arsenii Sokolov, Clare Williamson and Luke Radcliff. The technical producer was Emma Crowe. The series producer is Fiona Leach. The assistant editor is Alison Gee and the 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 +44 330 1239480