Episode description

How significant are Russia’s recent gains on the battlefront?

Karolina Hird, from the Institute for the Study of War, explains the current situation on the “dynamic” front-line, what a good year would look like for Ukraine and why the fall of Avdiivka isn’t as strategically important for Russia as it may seem.

And we hear from one Ukrainian soldier on why he decided to sign up to fight just six months ago.

Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko.

The producers were Keiligh Baker, Clare Williamson, Ivana Davidovic and Arsenii Sokolov. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Tim Walklate. The senior news 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 You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord.