Ukrainecast

Saturday marks exactly two years of this conflict. On today’s special episode, recorded in collaboration with the Global News Podcast, BBC experts from across the world answer YOUR questions on the war.

Today’s episode is presented by Oliver Conway and Vitaly Shevchenko, with the BBC’s chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet, in Kyiv, Russia editor Steve Rosenberg in Moscow and BBC Verify’s Olga Robinson.

You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord

In today’s Ukrainecast, the latest in our week of daily episodes to mark two years since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, Vitaly speaks to Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US Ambassador to the UN.

They discuss what America can realistically do to help bring the war to an end, if - and when - the $60bn of promised aid will actually get to Ukraine and what a Donald Trump presidency could mean for Ukraine.

Today’s episode is presented by Vitaly Shevchenko.

You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord.

For this special episode, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, tells us what it was like sitting at the UN table as news of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine broke.

He also talks to Victoria and Vitaly about how much power the UN has, whether it can stop the war and if accusations that it’s just a ‘talking shop’ hold any weight.

They also look to the future and how peace might be achieved.

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

You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord

Russia's election commission has disqualified anti-war challenger Boris Nadezhdin from standing as a candidate in next month's presidential vote.

He joins Victoria and Vitaly to discuss why he was barred, why he won’t stop campaigning for peace and his vow to follow in the footsteps of fierce Putin critic Alexei Navalny following his death.

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

You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord

Last November we were joined in the studio by Ukrainian journalist and writer, Mstyslav Chernov, who made the film '20 Days in Mariupol’. It’s just won the Oscar for Best Documentary feature, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to remind you of the episode. He described what it was like to shoot the documentary from inside Mariupol, and chronicles the Russian invasion of the Ukrainian port city in 2022.

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

You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord

Putin’s main rival, opposition politician Alexei Navalny, is dead according to the Russian prison service. An outspoken critic of the Russian leader, Navalny, 47, was serving a 19-year sentence in a Siberian jail when his death was announced on Friday morning.

BBC correspondent Sarah Rainsford, who was herself expelled from Russia, explains what we know so far - and if the Kremlin could face any consequences. And Georgian-Russian writer Boris Akunin, a long-standing critic of Putin and personal friend of Navalny, gives his reaction to the news.

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

You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord

Sashko and his mum were separated after being captured by Russian soldiers in Mariupol. Now 13, Sashko hasn’t seen or heard from his mother for almost two years. Along with his grandmother, he tells Victoria and Irena their story and how they’ve not given up on their search for her.

And are Nato members pulling their weight when it comes to defence spending? Donald Trump claims he’d encourage hostile states to attack Nato countries who he says aren’t paying enough. Victoria and Irena discuss this with Professor Katarzyna Zysk, from the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, and put some listener questions to her.

You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord.

In his first interview with a Western reporter since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, Russian president Vladimir Putin sat down with former Fox News host-turned-online commentator Tucker Carlson.

Over the course of a two-hour long, sometimes rambling, interview, Putin gave a 30-minute history lesson and said that ending the war is “simple” - the West just needs to stop supplying weapons to Ukraine.

BBC’s Russia Editor Steve Rosenberg and Professor Angela Stent, an expert specialising in US and European relations with Russia, at Georgetown University in Washington, help Victoria and Vitaly unpick what Putin said - and how it might further his agenda with the American public.

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

You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord

Ten years ago this month Crimea was occupied and then annexed by Russia. We find out what it’s like to live there now.

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

You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord

As Ukraine’s much discussed mobilisation bill returns to parliament, we catch up with friend of the podcast and student Vitalii Pashchenko, to find out how he and his friends feel about the conscription age being lowered from 27 to 25.

He tells us about life in Kyiv, and why his family have decided to return to Ukraine after fleeing to Poland at the start of the war.

Vitaly also speaks to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General, Andriy Kostin, and his UK counterpart, Victoria Prentis. They reveal how Ukraine is investigating war crimes and seeking justice - and how the UK is assisting in this work.

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

You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord