logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2022
34m 27s

Cold-calling Russia

BBC News
About this episode

As footage emerges that appears to show war crimes being committed by Ukrainian soldiers we speak to one of the BBC’s team of journalists working to establish if the material is authentic.

We hear from a man who’s made the decision to go home to Kyiv after having fled when war broke.

A Lithuanian man explains how he’s trying to tell Russian people what’s really happening in Ukraine, by cold-calling and talking to them.

Victoria Derbyshire, Vitaly Shevchenko, and Frank Gardner present this episode, and answer questions that have been sent in.

This episode of Ukrainecast was made by Estelle Doyle with Chris Flynn and Phil Marzouk. The studio director was Emma Crowe. The editor is Jonathan Aspinwall.

Up next
Dec 2025
A Moscow car bomb and Putin’s telethon
There’s lots of news from Moscow where a Russian general died on Monday morning after an explosive device planted under his car was detonated.He is the third military official to be killed in such an attack this year alone, with authorities pointing the finger at Ukraine's intell ... Show More
32m 28s
Dec 2025
Q&A: Is this Europe’s last chance to bankroll Ukraine?
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that his army will struggle to fight on effectively if a crunch European summit ends without a solution to an imminent deficit in Kyiv's finances. Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin has referred to European leaders as "piglets" as he dismi ... Show More
26 m
Dec 2025
Will Russia accept US-Ukraine peace proposals?
Volodymyr Zelensky has been in Berlin discussing peace proposals with the US, and he says they will be ready to present to Russia ‘within days’.Today, he addressed European leaders The Netherlands' House of Representatives in The Hague.We also discuss why Italy has joined Belgium ... Show More
28m 26s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2022
Ukrainecast: The Battle for Kyiv
Ukraine government gives out guns as Russian forces approach... Victoria, Gabriel and Vitaliy talk through how the conflict has unfolded. Olga Malchevska, from the BBC Ukrainian Service in London, tells of how her family home was targeted, and Newsnight’s diplomatic editor Mark U ... Show More
34m 34s
Feb 2023
Ukraine War: From Our Own Correspondents
The BBC’s foreign reporters assemble and discuss the war. Adam is joined by Lyse Doucet and Jeremy Bowen in Kyiv, John Simpson in Lviv, Sarah Smith in Warsaw and Steve Rosenberg in Moscow, following two high-stakes speeches from Presidents Putin and Biden.Clive Myrie also "dials ... Show More
32m 24s
Feb 2022
Ukrainecast
Russian forces launch a full-scale assault and 100,000 people try to flee... This episode is a special Ukrainecast hosted by BBC's Victoria Derbyshire and Newsnight's Gabriel Gatehouse, alongside Vitaliy Shevchenko, the Russia editor at BBC Monitoring. Today's podcast was produce ... Show More
37m 46s
Feb 2022
A phone call from Ukraine
Kurii Vasyl and his niece Yulya try to make sense of Russia’s invasion of their country. And Kyiv Independent reporter Igor Kossov explains the latest from Ukraine’s capital. This episode was produced by Will Reid and Victoria Chamberlin, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered ... Show More
23m 29s
Feb 2022
Ukrainecast: What is Putin thinking?
As fighting continues in Ukraine, Victoria Derbyshire and Gabriel Gatehouse look at how the crisis is being reflected in Russia. They’re joined by Angus Roxburgh, who spent three years as a consultant to the Kremlin, to discuss whether the people closest to Putin will stay loyal ... Show More
44m 29s
Feb 2023
Ukrainecast: 12 months on
Ukrainians gather for a special broadcast at the BBC Radio Theatre, hosted by Ukrainecast and Newsnight. They share their fears for families at home, feelings of guilt about escaping to safety and the need for justice. Host Victoria Derbyshire, BBC Monitoring’s Russia editor Vita ... Show More
37m 58s
Mar 2024
Hidden reality of frontline combat through the eyes of Ukraine's soldiers
In a new BBC documentary, a single Ukrainian infantry company find themselves in a life or death battle to defend the eastern front against intense Russian attacks.Jamie Roberts tells us how he managed to get such rare access and what the fate of these men tells us about the real ... Show More
26m 29s
Feb 2024
Ukraine frontline: ordinary lives in extraordinary times
A surgeon in a wheelchair, an indomitable grandmother, and a man taking care of eight cats in a bombed-out flat: just some of people the BBC’s Andrew Harding has met on repeat trips to Ukraine’s front lines. He and the BBC’s Olga Robinson, who has family in Russia and Ukraine, ta ... Show More
26m 45s