Is the Ukraine war killing dolphins?
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 21 April 2023
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Explosions, mines and sonar could be harming endangered marine life in the Black Sea, according to scientists at a university in Poland. We speak to Ewa Węgrzyn, a professor of zoology who’s conducted the research.
The BBC’s Frank Gardner talks to us about ghost spy ships and whether Russia could be using them to monitor key infrastructure sites in the North Sea for possible sabotage.
And we hear from chef Yevhen Klopotenko, the unofficial ‘ambassador’ of Ukrainian cuisine, who delivers the final verdict on the right way to make kutia.
Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Arsenii Sokolov, Clare Williamson and Luke Radcliff. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Fiona Leach. The assistant editor is Alison Gee and the 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. |
| 0:04.7 | Hello, this is Victoria in the Ukrainecast studio. |
| 0:07.2 | And this is Vitaly, also in the Ukrainecast studio. |
| 0:10.4 | And a new documentary made by four Scandinavian broadcasters |
| 0:14.2 | has unusually been all over the news this week. |
| 0:17.0 | It's an investigation alleging that Russia has a fleet |
| 0:19.8 | of navy ships, essentially disguised as fishing trawlers |
| 0:23.8 | and research vessels, whose real purpose |
| 0:26.9 | is to carry out underwater surveillance of key energy |
| 0:29.8 | and communication cables for possible sabotage. |
| 0:33.7 | It's called Putin's Shadow War. |
| 0:36.4 | And Ukrainecast friend and BBC security correspondent, |
| 0:40.4 | Frank Gardner, is here. |
| 0:42.5 | And people are calling these vessels ghost ships, |
| 0:45.6 | which really captures the imagination. |
| 0:47.3 | But why and what do you know about them? |
| 0:49.4 | Yeah, this story is deeply sinister. |
| 0:51.4 | I think we should stay right from the outset |
| 0:53.0 | that Russia has denied any wrongdoing by these ships. |
| 0:56.6 | But what is making them very suspicious |
| 0:59.1 | is that all ships carry something called an AIS, |
| 1:02.4 | an automated information system. |
... |
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