Episode description

Emily Tamkin in Washington DC and Ido Vock in Helsinki are joined by Alix Kroeger, a freelance journalist in Kyiv and the former international managing editor of the New Statesman.

Central Kyiv was attacked by Russia this week. As Alix reports, this was the first time the capital has been attacked since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The team discuss the devastation wrought by the strikes, the response from the city’s residents, and what it signals about Vladimir Putin’s willingness to raise the stakes after Russia’s recent setbacks.

Next, they head to Olkiluoto Island in Finland, where amid the energy crisis following Russia’s invasion, the country has opened Europe’s largest nuclear reactor and the world’s first permanent disposal site for nuclear waste. They discuss Ido’s recent visit to the site, the process for the disposal of the spent fuel, and the controversies that surround it. 

Then in You Ask Us, a listener asks why the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) group is reducing oil exports now, in apparent support of Russian interests.

Further reading:

Alix Kroeger reports Russia's war returns to Kyiv

Ido Vock writes Russian strikes on Ukraine's cities are an implicit nuclear threat.

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