Has Russia Won In Ukraine?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 9 August 2016
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The fighting in Ukraine has fallen off the front pages recently after making headline news in 2014. But Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists are still engaged in a frozen conflict with no military or diplomatic solution in sight. Soldiers, rebels and civilians are dying. It looks good for Russia. Ukraine lacks the military power and international support to take back the East of the country where Russian-backed separatists hold huge swathes of land. And President Putin’s approval ratings at home have soared thanks to his annexation of Crimea in 2014. But does this mean Russia has won in Ukraine?
Presenter: Helena Merriman
(Photo: Separatist soldiers stand on a military vehicle during a city celebration on September 14, 2014 in Lugansk, Ukraine. Credit to Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to the inquiry with me, Helena Merriman. |
| 0:09.6 | On the 25th of July, seven soldiers were killed by rebels in eastern Ukraine. |
| 0:14.8 | It was the deadliest day this year for Ukraine's army. |
| 0:18.1 | But you probably didn't hear about it. |
| 0:22.3 | This, like most of what goes on in Ukraine now, barely made headlines. |
| 0:27.0 | Over the past 18 months, since Russia annexed Crimea, Ukraine has slowly faded from the front pages. Western leaders are no longer |
| 0:35.7 | shuttling from capital to capital trying to resolve the crisis, and Russian-backed rebels |
| 0:41.0 | in the East are standing their ground. |
| 0:44.0 | It raises a question. |
| 0:47.0 | Has Russia won in Ukraine? |
| 0:52.0 | Before you meet our first expert witness, a man who knows perhaps better than anyone |
| 0:56.9 | what's going on in Ukraine, we're going to take you back to the day the conflict began. It's December 2013. |
| 1:07.0 | Ukraine's government has just abandoned plans to move closer to the EU. |
| 1:12.0 | Thousands of protesters take to the streets, accusing the government |
| 1:15.9 | of caving in to Russian pressure. |
| 1:17.8 | We want to see new government here in Ukraine, new European government here. |
| 1:23.0 | Riot police are sent in to break up the protests. |
| 1:29.1 | They fire tear gas and stun grenades into the crowds. |
| 1:32.4 | The protesters fight back. A few days later the |
| 1:37.6 | demonstrators break into the city hall and declare their own |
| 1:40.5 | administration. Ukrainian is free now and it's a symbol of our revolution and our freedom. |
| 1:48.0 | By February, riots have broken out all over the country. |
... |
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