Aiden Aslin: Life after a Death Sentence
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 28 July 2023
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Aiden Aslin, the British prisoner released by Russia, discusses his time behind bars, receiving the death sentence and his plans to return to Ukraine.
Also, Africa correspondent Andrew Harding and Beverly Ochieng from BBC Monitoring in Nairobi discuss the Russia-Africa summit and the continent’s relationship with the Kremlin.
And what does Yevgeny Prigozhin’s reappearance in St Petersburg tell us about President Putin’s position of strength?
Today’s episode is presented by Lucy Hockings and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Arsenii Sokolov and Clare Williamson. The technical producer was Gareth Jones. The series producer is Tim Walklate. 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
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:05.0 | It's 520 days since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the Africa-Russia |
| 0:11.0 | summit kicked off on Thursday in St. Petersburg, and it seems they had a surprise guest there. |
| 0:17.4 | Yes, Yvgeny Prigorzyn himself, the leader of Wagner, was apparently photographed in St. Petersburg, |
| 0:25.9 | and he was seen apparently shaking hands with an official from the Central African Republic. |
| 0:32.5 | I say apparently, because these days you can't be certain of anything 100%, but as far as |
| 0:38.9 | we know, the meeting took place at a hotel in St. Petersburg, which is owned by Prigorzyn. |
| 0:46.3 | So this is what seems to be possible in Russia, even after you've mounted a mutiny, shot |
| 0:53.7 | down a number of helicopters killed their pilots, and then you're invited to a summit, |
| 1:00.2 | also attended by President Putin himself. |
| 1:02.9 | Because of Italy, this is the first confirmed sighting I think of Mr. Prigorzyn in Russia |
| 1:07.4 | since that failed mutiny in June. |
| 1:09.5 | I think most of us thought he was still in Belarus. |
| 1:12.3 | That's right. There were pictures that are a bit more difficult to verify, showing him |
| 1:18.8 | in what appeared to be a camp used by Wagner in Belarus, but there also various reports |
| 1:27.7 | of his private jet going from Belarus to St. Petersburg and then Moscow. |
| 1:33.3 | So the bottom line is that he seems to have freedom of movement still, despite everything |
| 1:39.2 | that has happened between him and the Russian military. |
| 1:42.8 | There is an ongoing obsession, I would say, for Tali, or interest in Mr. Prigorzyn. |
| 1:47.3 | And we have a question from Lynn and Glasgow in Scotland, who asked us, |
| 1:51.1 | what does Mr. Prigorzyn's appearance tell us about President Putin's position of strength? |
| 1:57.6 | Well, I think it's obvious now that his strength has been weakened dramatically, |
... |
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