As the Russian president meets leaders of Iran and Turkey, the BBC’s former Moscow and diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall takes us through what this tells about Putin's remaining diplomatic friends.
Vitaliy and Victoria catch up with a young soldier we first met in May who is now taking brief respite from fighting on the front lines in the east to visit injured friends in Kyiv.
And we meet some humanitarian aid workers and hear about why they continue to work day-after-day to get Ukrainians to safety.
This episode of Ukrainecast was made by Phil Marzouk, with Ivana Davidovic, Arsenii Sokolov and planning producer Louise Hidalgo. The technical producer was Emma Crowe. The assistant editor was Sam Bonham. 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.