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Ukrainecast

Are Chinese soldiers fighting for Putin’s Russia?

Ukrainecast

BBC

News Commentary, News

4.71K Ratings

🗓️ 8 April 2025

⏱️ 24 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

President Zelensky says two Chinese citizens have been captured while fighting for Russia in the Donetsk region. But how did they end up in Ukraine and what does this mean for the future of the conflict?

General Sir Nick Carter, former chief of the UK's defence staff, is in the studio to discuss this latest development, as well as whether the world order as we know it has changed for good, and if the UK would ever consider compulsory military service.

Also, how has President Trump’s tariffs announcement been received in Ukraine? James Waterhouse sends us his thoughts from Kyiv.

Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Laurie Kalus, Julia Webster and Peter Karlsen. The technical producer was Jack Graysmark. 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

You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.

0:04.8

Hello, it's 1,140 days since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

0:10.4

And on Friday evening, a Russian missile attack hit a residential area in President Zelensky's home city.

0:17.4

Kraviri, yes. As a result, 20 people were killed,

0:22.4

and nine of them children,

0:24.0

playing at a playground nearby.

0:27.0

There were horrific scenes following the attack.

0:30.4

Parents crying over their dead children.

0:33.1

People were burned alive in the car,

0:36.1

and the missile caused a huge hall, several stories high in a residential apartment block.

0:42.5

The damage was caused by a ballistic missile apparently equipped with cluster munitions.

0:50.2

That's to say small bomblets.

0:52.5

There are lots of tiny holes or craters in buildings and the pavements

0:57.9

and firing cluster munitions, deliberately firing them at areas where there are so many civilians that can be a war crime.

1:09.1

Russia says it used a missile with a conventional warhead,

1:12.7

targeting a meeting of Ukrainian military commanders with foreign military instructors,

1:17.5

but there's not a shred of evidence to support that claim.

1:21.8

There is footage on social media of the funeral of one of the children who were killed in that missile strike.

1:30.8

A nine-year-old boy called Herman.

1:38.1

It's a funeral with family members closely standing and sitting around this little boy's coffin.

1:46.2

Obviously, they're absolutely distraught.

1:48.6

They are upset.

...

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