Ukrainecast

About Ukrainecast

The BBC’s only English language programme entirely dedicated to the war in Ukraine and its fallout, Ukrainecast is your go-to podcast which investigates the biggest issues around the conflict: Could Putin push the nuclear button? How could Donald Trump end the war in 24 hours? What is the price for peace? The podcast is hosted by Newsnight presenter Victoria Derbyshire and BBC Monitoring’s Vitaly Shevchenko. Ukrainecast covers the most important topics around the conflict and speaks to the real people who’ve lived through several years of war. It also brings you agenda-setting interviews with special guests each week such as UK foreign secretary David Cameron, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and pre-eminent Russia expert Fiona Hill. You can fill out our audience questionnaire here: bit.ly/ukrainecastfeedback GET IN TOUCH: You can join our Ukrainecastonline community here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord Send us a message or voicenote via WhatsApp to +443301239480 Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk (mailto:Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk) You can listen to the latest episode of Ukrainecast anytime on your smart speaker by saying “Alexa, Ask BBC Sounds for Ukrainecast." If you enjoy Ukrainecast (and if you’re reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below. The Global Story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvsd (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvsd) The Today Podcast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r) Americast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p07h19zz (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p07h19zz) Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p05299nl (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p05299nl)

Publisher

BBC News

Category

news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

24 Feb 2022

Latest episode

23 Dec 2025

Latest episodes

217 of 507 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   23 Dec 2025TRANSCRIPT

   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 intelligence services. Also, Vladimir Putin said in his end-of-year press conference that there will be no more wars after Ukraine, provided Russia is treated with respect - he dismissed claims that the Kremlin is planning to attack European countries as "nonsense". The BBC’s Russia editor Steve Rosenberg was in the room to ask a question. He joins Victoria and Vitaly to discuss the president's answer, and the surreal moment a Russian TV channel mistook another journalist for him. Plus, Ukraine correspondent James Waterhouse is in the studio to chat about Europe's eleventh-hour deal to fund Kyiv, and all the latest on peace talks from Miami. Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Laurie Kalus and Julia Webster. The technical producer was James Piper. The series producer is Chris Flynn. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. 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 You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord

2. 

   18 Dec 2025TRANSCRIPT

   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 dismissed any peace deal which does not "unconditionally" satisfy Russia's pre-invasion aims. The Russian president is yet to be presented with the latest US-led proposal on how to end the war in Ukraine, after Donald Trump spoke positively about progress made during multilateral talks in Berlin. This week, Lucy is joined in the studio by the BBC’s chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet, security correspondent Frank Gardner, and Europe digital editor Paul Kirby, to answer your questions. Could a plan to redeploy frozen Russian assets crash Europe’s economy? Which competing visions are at play inside the White House as the US ramps up peace efforts? And what would make China speak up on behalf of Ukraine? Today’s episode is presented by Lucy Hockings. The producers were Laurie Kalus and Julia Webster. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The social producer was Joe Wilkinson. The series producer is Chris Flynn. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. 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 You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord

3. 

   16 Dec 2025TRANSCRIPT

   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 in its opposition to the EU’s plan to send €210 billion of Russia's frozen state assets to Ukraine. Victoria and Vitaly are joined by BBC’s international editor Jeremy Bowen to discuss why there is good reason to remain wary of an imminent robust peace deal. Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko The producers were Laurie Kalus and Julia Webster. The technical producer was Jonny Hall. The series producer is Chris Flynn. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. 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 You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord

Inside a recent episode

A Moscow car bomb and Putin’s telethon

Published 23 Dec 2025 · Transcript excerpt

[…] Well, it was one of many that I've seen over the years, and I was joking with colleagues here in the office that we could possibly draft Vladimir Putin's answers for him in advance, because we knew what he was going to say. On Ukraine, of course, he blamed Ukraine for unleashing this war. He accused Europe of using Ukraine to attack Russia. The only thing that was different from the past years, and again, it wasn't really surprising, was the fact that America was not portrayed as an enemy. It seems that it's Europe that's taken place of Russia's enemy number one. It's a very carefully staged managed event, but at the background, they have these massive screens where they showed questions sent in by members of the public, apparently uncensored. […]

Who has been a guest on Ukrainecast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Ben Tavener
• Catriona Perry
• Dr Justin Bronk
• Paul Kirby
• Laura Gozzi

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.7 / 5

369 ratings

Spotify

4.8 / 5

3,825 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 68 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

96

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

98

Contact Ukrainecast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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• 

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  Americast

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  In Moscow's Shadows

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  Battle Lines

Questions about Ukrainecast