Ukraine

Almost two years since Russia launched its full scale war in Ukraine – we speak to a man who witnessed and recorded some of the worst brutality of the war. The AP journalist Mstyslav Chernov, together with two colleagues, arrived in Mariupol just an hour before the invasion. He began filming and didn’t stop for…

Russia has accused Ukraine of shooting down a military transport plane – which they claimed had 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war on board. The regional governor said the plane came down in a field, near the city of Belgorod – claiming there were no survivors.

It’s been another difficult week for Ukraine – its cities are still being shelled, its president Zelensky is pleading again for more money and investment from the West, whilst the German Bundestag has turned down its request for Taurus long-range missiles.

Ukraine marked Christmas on December 25th for the first time after the government officially moved the date in a break with the Russian orthodox church.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Washington trying to salvage billions of dollars in US aid.

The US has also been a loud supporter of Ukraine giving nearly $50 billion in military assistance.

We spoke to former Polish foreign minister Radek Sikorski and began by asking him if he was surprised by this sudden U-turn from the Polish Prime Minister?

Staunch allies Ukraine and Poland seem to have found themselves at odds. The point of contention – Ukrainian grain.

The Ukrainian authorities have said that a devastating Russian strike on a town close to the front lines in eastern Ukraine has killed at least 17 people and left dozens injured.

The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has replaced his defence minister, after the department became embroiled in a series of corruption scandals. Although Oleksiy Reznikov has not been implicated, Mr Zelenskyy said it was time for “new approaches”. The change comes at a critical moment for Ukraine’s battle to win back territory from the Russians. Today…

Ukrainian troops say they’ve managed to break through the most difficult line of Russian defences in the south – which should help them advance more quickly in their mission to take back territory. Ukrainian officials have been under pressure to speed up the pace of their counter offensive –  but defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov said…

We spoke to Alina Frolova who was Ukraine’s deputy defense minister and started by asking her if she shares President Zelenskyy’s frustration about the language coming out of the Nato summit.

“Ukraine’s future is in Nato” – just not quite yet – that is the message from the alliance meeting in Vilnius today.

Evgenia Kara-Murza, the wife of long-time Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, joins Krishnan Guru-Murthy to talk about her fight to free Russia’s political prisoners, the toll Vladimir’s detention has taken on their family and whether she can envisage a future in a free, democratic Russia, in this week’s Way to Change the World podcast.

In Russia the aftermath of the mutiny is less destructive, but ongoing, with claims sourced to the US government that at least one senior general was aware of the uprising and allowed it to happen.