logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2022
34m 34s

Released from Russia for a reunion with ...

BBC News
About this episode

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.

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
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 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
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
Aug 2022
Ukrainecast: Six Months On
Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaliy Shevchenko from Ukrainecast, mark the anniversary of Russia's war in Ukraine by following the stories of Max, Anna, Hussain, Maksym and Viktoria, none of whom will ever be the same again. This episode of Ukrainecast was made by Chris Flynn, Arsenii ... Show More
51m 42s
Mar 2022
Why Ukraine won’t quit
Millions of people have fled Ukraine since Russia’s war begin. We check back in with Kurii Vasyl, who stayed behind, and his niece Yulya, who fled. This episode was produced by Victoria Chamberlin, edited by Matt Collette, engineered by Efim Shapiro, fact-checked by Laura Bullard ... Show More
24m 41s
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
Mar 2022
Biden: U.S. Will Admit Up To 100,000 People Fleeing Ukraine
CNN visits a children’s hospital in Ukraine and meets an 11-year-old girl shot in the face by Russian soldiers while trying to escape Putin’s war. Plus, an exclusive interview with the woman who was in charge of protecting America from cyberattacks. Why the threat from Russia is ... Show More
39m 30s
Mar 2022
Platform 5
Taking the next train out of Ukraine... We speak to the BBC’s Fergal Keane in Lviv, where he’s been speaking to Ukrainians fleeing to Poland.Writer and podcaster, Jon Ronson, joins Adam and the BBC’s Marianna Spring to talk about culture wars and misinformation in Ukraine And bro ... Show More
30m 35s