BBC OS Conversations: Ukrainians and hope

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.3 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2023

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky knows that if he has any hope of victory in the war in his country he needs his international friends to keep backing him. Although the size of that task was pretty clear this week, in both the United States and Europe, when he returned largely empty handed - for now, at least. Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, says he remains up for the fight and talked confidently about ultimate success. It is now approaching two years of war in Ukraine. Despite both leaders talking of victory, the fighting and losses continue and neither side has been making much progress on the battlefield. In this edition, we hear conversations among Ukrainians. They talk about the emotional impact of the fighting but also how they are able to have plans despite the war. Three residents of Kyiv share their experiences, including Iryna, on how the approach of a second Christmas at war has affected her wedding plans to her British fiance. “When first he proposed I said yeah, we’re going to do it after the war, after we will win,” says Iryna. "But now it’s so long already and I feel like I just paused my life. So we decided to get married next year.” Host James Reynolds also hears from a woman whose brother was captured in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol and brings together Ukrainians in the UK and Poland. A Boffin Media production in partnership with the BBC OS team. (Photo: Iryna and her fiance Reese)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Something mysterious plagues county mayo's Gaelic football team on the west coast of Ireland.
0:06.0	When you look at the amount of times they've reached the final, you almost start believing something's not right.
0:10.0	Believing in the curse.
0:11.0	Amazing sports stories.
0:13.0	Listen now wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
0:16.0	Hello, I'm James Reynolds.
0:18.0	Welcome to The documentary from the BBC World Service.
0:22.0	In BBC OS Conversations conversations we bring people together to share
0:25.7	their experiences and this time we return to the war in Ukraine.
0:39.3	We're now approaching two full years of fighting in Ukraine, and each side remains as determined as ever to achieve victory.
0:42.4	Our conversations today are with Ukrainians.
0:45.0	We bring together residents of Kyiv and Ukrainians abroad
0:48.0	tell us about their determination to keep their traditions alive.
0:53.0	I make Borsch almost every week and all the neighbors leave around myself.
0:58.0	They know the taste of porch even with this specific pastry we call Pampushkas.
1:04.0	We'll talk a bit more about Ukrainian cooking, how delicious it sounds a little later on in this episode.
1:12.0	It's been a couple of months, hasn't it, since we last hosted
1:15.3	conversations about the war in Ukraine, and I guess that that reflects the world's attention,
1:20.9	as of course the focus has largely been on another war in another part of the world
1:25.0	the one in Gaza and Israel. But Ukraine has been back in the headlines this week due in part
1:31.1	to President Zelensky's so far unsuccessful attempts to secure
1:35.8	further military aid from the United States.
	...

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