Ukrainecast

In spite of the power cuts and air raid warnings, the festive spirit is alive and well in Kyiv. Ice skating, Santa’s grotto, and mulled wine are all on offer at the city’s Winter Land, a Christmassy theme park. We hear from the team bringing a smile to the faces of families in spite of the war. When the BBC’s Sarah Rainsford last visited Kharkiv, the city was under attack. Nine months on, Sarah returns, and it’s back under Ukrainian control. The Metro that was then a bomb shelter is now the home to a Christmas tree. And what should we read into the recent prisoner exchange between Washington and Moscow? We decode the diplomatic manoeuvres with former US state department official Jeremy Shapiro. Today’s episode is presented by Adam Fleming 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 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

Kyiv may be a city of blackouts and bomb shelters, but its comedians have found a fresh lease of life. Comedy clubs have taken off since the invasion with citizens seking solace in dark humour and the company of their compatriots. Also, the BBC’s Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg, gives his reflections on how the country is being changed by the war into something no longer recognisable to the one he knew a decade ago.And, the criticisms of Vitaly’s Kutia recipe just keep in coming in. Will it never stop?Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Arsenii Sokolov, Clare Williamson and Luke Radcliff. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Fiona Leach. The assistant editor is Alison Gee 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

As troops grapple with freezing temperatures and missiles cause mass power cuts across Ukraine, the BBC’s Security Correspondent Frank Gardner assesses both sides’ military strategies. Victoria and Vitaly speak to Yaryna Chornohuz, a mother who is now a soldier on the front line. She has a young daughter, but says she feels compelled to fight.And Father Vitaliy Novak describes how he and a team of volunteers are delivering food to people across the country, some of whom are living in church basements.Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and the Russia Editor for BBC Monitoring, Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Arsenii Sokolov, Clare Williamson and Luke Radcliff. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor is Alison Gee 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

The BBC’s chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet, gives us her take on whether President Biden’s offer to talk may offer a moment for diplomacy, despite an apparent rebuff from Vladimir Putin. A former US marine who heads up the Mozart Group, an unarmed private military company, gives us a graphic depiction of saving civilians behind Russian lines in the Donbass and occupied areas. Jonny Dymond joins us to share his fresh insights into the Russian President as more episodes of Putin drop on BBC Sounds and Radio 4. And we return to the subject of celebrating a Ukrainian Christmas after a listener emailed the podcast to tell us we’d got it all wrong. Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaliy Shevchenko. The producers were Arsenii Sokolov, Clare Williamson and Luke Radcliff. The technical coordinator was Emma Crowe. The series producer is Fiona Leach. The assistant editor is Alison Gee 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

A mother in Siberia tells us how her son died at a training camp in Russia - he had volunteered to fight but never made it to the front line. The BBC’s Tim Whewell spoke to her and other families in Bratsk whose young men have gone to war. Ukraine has opened a “surrender hotline” for Russian soldiers to call. Our correspondent in Dnipro, James Waterhouse, has been talking to the people who run it. Also, we hear from volunteer Olena Budahovska about the people she’s been delivering food to in recently liberated areas of Ukraine.Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaliy Shevchenko.The producers were Arsenii Sokolov, Clare Williamson and Luke Radcliff. The technical coordinator was Emma Crowe. The series producer is Fiona Leach. The assistant editor is Alison Gee 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

We hear from Borys Todurov, a cardiac surgeon from Kyiv, whose team used head torches to operate on a 14-year-old boy after a Russian strike knocked out the hospital’s power supply.Olena, a mother of eight from Izium, tells us how an attack near her home killed her mother and left her teenage son unable to walk. He was taken to Moscow for treatment and thought Olena was dead. And Dr Patricia Lewis, Director of the International Security Programme at Chatham House, answers listeners’ questions about the war in winter, whether Russia is committing genocide by targeting energy infrastructure and Russia’s role at the United Nations.Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaliy Shevchenko.The producers were Arsenii Sokolov, Clare Williamson and Luke Radcliff. The technical coordinator was Ben Andrews. The assistant editor is Alison Gee 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

Olena Zelenska says Ukrainians will endure the winter despite the cold and power cuts caused by Russian shelling. Ukraine’s first lady told the BBC’s Lyse Doucet that Ukraine is facing many challenges, but that a blackout is not the worst thing that can happen to them.Also, one of the country’s richest businessmen, Vsevolod Kozhemyako, talks about his decision to fund a group of soldiers that has become known as the billionaire’s battalion. He’s also fighting alongside them on the battlefield.Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaliy Shevchenko.The producers were Arsenii Sokolov, Clare Williamson and Luke Radcliff. The technical coordinator was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor is Alison Gee 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

A baby boy has died after a missile hit a hospital maternity ward just two days after he was born. Before the attack, Victoria interviewed the Russian ambassador to the UK Andrey Kelin and asked him about the killing of civilians and war crimes committed in Ukraine. Also, BBC correspondent James Waterhouse has been meeting the people rebuilding the country’s bombed-out infrastructure. And friend of the pod, Olga Ivshina from the BBC Russian service, tells us how Russian men have been resisting mobilisation.Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaliy Shevchenko.The producers were Fiona Leach, Arsenii Sokolov, Clare Williamson and Luke Radcliff. The technical coordinator was Emma Crowe. The series producer is Estelle Doyle. The assistant editor is Alison Gee 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

Gabriel Gatehouse takes us back to the anti-corruption protests of 2013 in Kyiv’s Maidan Square that told Moscow it was losing influence in Ukraine.Viktoria Andrusha tells us why she risked her life and her freedom by informing on Russian troops as they moved into her town. And we hear how Russia is currently reporting on the war and how the propaganda machine is presenting the recent withdrawal from Kherson.Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire, Gabriel Gatehouse and Vitaliy Shevchenko.The producers were Fiona Leach, Arsenii Sokolov, Clare Williamson and Luke Radcliff. The technical coordinator was Emma Crowe. The series producer is Estelle Doyle. The assistant editor is Alison Gee. 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.

Alice, the little girl whose video of life in the bunker went viral, was separated from her mum when they were evacuated by Russian troops. We heard she was safe with her grandmother in Poland and on today’s podcast, we hear the story of her Ukrainian mum, Victoria and what happened to her. We hear the Ukrainian response to the news that a Dutch court has found three men guilty of murder for shooting down a passenger jet over eastern Ukraine in 2014, killing 298 people . And we hear from Liza Fokht from the BBC’s Russian Service about distressing new allegations about the Wagner Group - a shadowy Russian mercenary organisation which has been active across the world.Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire, Vitaliy Shevchenko and James Waterhouse.The producers were Arsenii Sokolov, Clare Williamson and Luke Radcliff. The technical coordinator was Mike Regaard. 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.