Ukrainecast

A family of amputees learn to walk again.

We talk to Natalia Stepanenko, who was badly injured in the Kramatorsk railway attack last year. Both her and her 12 year old daughter Yana lost legs, while Natalia’s husband died in a separate attack soon after. After receiving treatment in California the family are back in Ukraine, trying to re-build their lives.

The BBC’s Orla Guerin explains what medical provisions exist for tens of thousands of Ukrainian amputees and tells us about the diplomatic spat between Ukraine and Poland.

And we get the latest on a missile attack which hit the HQ of Russia's Black Sea navy in Crimea.

Today’s episode is presented by Lucy Hockings and Vitaly Shevchenko.

Translation was provided by Irena Taranyuk.

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

TOPICS:

00:05 - Amputee mother preview

Three seasoned correspondents discuss the challenges of covering prolonged conflicts, in particular, the issue of “news fatigue”.

Chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet, international editor Jeremy Bowen and the BBC’s Quentin Sommerville talk about their experience of reporting in places like Bosnia, Afghanistan, and now, Ukraine - and how to keep you, the audience, interested and engaged…

They also discuss President Zelensky’s visit to the UN and the US and the latest developments in Ukraine’s counter-offensive.

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

TOPICS:

00:05 - "News fatigue" and Ukraine

Ukraine says it has damaged naval ships in the port of Sevastopol in Crimea and hit air defences. We ask Britain’s most recent defence attaché in Moscow, John Foreman whether Ukraine is stepping up its attacks on Crimea and how Russia could respond.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has arrived in Russia to meet president Vladimir Putin. The BBC’s Seoul Correspondent, Jean Mackenzie discusses what the two leaders want from their first get together in four years and whether the West should be worried.

Ukraine is one of the most heavily land-mined countries in the world with over 170,000 square kilometres of its territory being covered in them.

Today’s episode is presented by Lucy Hockings and Vitaly Shevchenko with Frank Gardner.

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

The BBC’s Russia Editor Steve Rosenberg answers your questions on Yevgeny Prigozhin, pro-Kremlin talk shows and Kim Jong Un.

We catch up with the BBC’s Olga Malchevska who talks us through the latest attack which killed at least 17 people in Kostyantynivka.

And how McDonald’s has played a crucial role in aiding diplomacy between Washington and Kyiv.

Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Gabriel Gatehouse.

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

Why has President Zelensky lobbied Western powers for the F-16? What are the challenges in getting them deployed? And could they shift the balance in the war for Ukraine’s skies?

To discuss this we’re joined by Dan ‘Two-Dogs’ Hampton, a retired US Air Force pilot who has flown 151 combat missions in the F-16.

Also, the Guardian’s Emma Graham-Harrison and the BBC’s James Waterhouse discuss the dismissal of Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov.

Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Gabriel Gatehouse.

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

TOPICS:

00:05 - Why might Putin meet Kim Jong Un?

Despite the reported capture of the village of Robotyne, is Ukraine making any meaningful gains in its counter-offensive?

To take stock of how it’s going, Victoria and Vitaly are joined by Riley Bailey from the Institute for the Study of War and Professor Michael Clarke, a defence and security analyst based in London.

Also, veteran war reporter for CNN, Christiane Amanpour, joins us from Kyiv to discuss the possible scenarios as to how the war could end.

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

00:05 - Ukraine’s Foreign Minister tells critics to ‘shut up’

What is it like in the classroom during wartime?

Two Ukrainian teachers, Lesia Yurchyshyn in Kyiv and Olga Hrihoryeva in Kherson, discuss their differing experiences of what teaching has been like since the war began, from remote learning to bomb shelter classrooms.

New York Times correspondent Valerie Hopkins joins us from St Petersburg where she’s searching cemetery-by-cemetery to find the location of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s funeral.

And the BBC’s Olga Ivshina joins Russia analyst Mark Galeotti to examine how the Wagner chief’s death is going down in Russia.

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.

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00:05 - Pro-Kremlin TV

Does the Wagner chief’s reported death strengthen the Russian president?

Lyse, Vitaly and journalist Gabriel Gatehouse unpick the latest developments surrounding Wednesday's plane crash, and the presumed death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group.

And Kremlin critic Bill Browder suggests that Prigozhin’s presumed death is “the beginning of the purge” and gives an insight of what it’s like to be a marked man in Moscow.

Today’s episode is presented by Lyse Doucet and Vitaly Shevchenko.

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

In an extra episode of Ukrainecast, Adam Fleming and Vitaly Shevchenko are joined by the BBC’s Frank Gardner and Lou Osborne from the monitoring group All Eyes on Wagner to discuss the news that the Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has been presumed dead following a plane crash.

The producers were Chris Flynn and Miranda Slade. The technical producer was Rohan Madison. The series producer is Tim Walklate. The senior news editor is Jonathan Aspinwall.

Email [email protected] 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.