‘Kamikaze’ drones attack Kyiv
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 17 October 2022
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Russia has attacked the Ukrainian capital with drones that loiter above a target before attacking, then detonate on impact. The BBC’s defence correspondent Jonathan Beale explains to Victoria and Vitaly why Russian forces are now using these weapons.
Ukrainian author Andrei Kurkov reflects on the life and death of the Ukrainian conductor Yuriy Kerpatenko. The musician was killed by Russians occupying Kherson for refusing to take part in a concert they had organised.
Also, for several days now, the Russian city of Belgorod bordering Ukraine has been under attack. A former resident, Ksenia Mikhailik, tells us she left fearing for her daughter’s safety.
And the BBC Russian’s Maria Kiseleva explains what may have motivated the mass shooting of Russian soldiers at a training ground, also in the Belgorod region.
This episode was presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko.
Today’s Ukrainecast was made by Ivana Davidovic, Arsenii Sokolov and Luke Radcliffe. The technical director was Russell Newlove. The series producer is Estelle Doyle, the assistant editor Alison Gee. The editor is Jonathan Aspinwall.
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. |
| 0:04.9 | Hello, it's 236 days since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. |
| 0:10.6 | And this morning, the Ukrainian capital Kiev came under attack, which used a swarm of drones. |
| 0:20.5 | They're so-called kamikaze drones, which means they explode when they hit targets and |
| 0:27.6 | destroy themselves as well. |
| 0:30.5 | And we've seen videos of them flying over residential areas of Kiev very slowly, and |
| 0:40.2 | they make this really annoying sound like a moped with people firing guns at them, trying |
| 0:46.9 | to shoot them down, and then at least four explosions happen as part of this attack. |
| 0:55.0 | One of them not far from the main railway station in Kiev. |
| 0:59.1 | So when I was looking at the videos, I couldn't actually see them. |
| 1:04.3 | And so the sounds that I heard, Vitaly, which was like a machine gun, a rapid firing, was |
| 1:11.3 | that people trying to shoot them down? |
| 1:12.9 | If people should try to shoot them down, when they fly, they're really difficult to miss, |
| 1:17.8 | they're very noisy, they're very visible, they're very terrifying, people looking up at |
| 1:23.0 | them, thinking, oh my god, where are they going to fall? |
| 1:33.0 | Yeah, I mean, on one of the videos, there are just people scattering in all directions. |
| 1:46.3 | It's absolute visceral fear, because as you say, you've no idea where they are, and |
| 1:52.7 | whether they're going to hit you, so people are just literally running for their lives |
| 1:57.2 | in the capital. |
| 1:58.2 | Yes, you know it's coming, but you know where exactly is going to hit. |
| 2:02.3 | In the aftermath of the attack, as we're recording this, we don't know how many people were |
| 2:06.2 | killed. |
... |
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