Q&A: Kyiv strikes, Putin's legitimacy and China's nuclear stance
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 28 August 2025
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
There have been multiple civilian casualties in Kyiv after sustained Russian airstrikes on the Ukrainian capital overnight. The UK Foreign Office has told Moscow to "stop this senseless killing" and earlier summoned Russia's ambassador in the UK to protest. But will these latest attacks have any bearing on international attempts to broker a peace deal?
To examine the fallout, Jamie and Vitaly are joined by Ukraine correspondent James Waterhouse and BBC Verify’s Olga Robinson. They also discuss Vladimir Putin’s legitimacy under the Russian constitution, Poland’s place in the conflict, and whether China could take a more prominent diplomatic role as Russia's president prepares to travel to Beijing.
You can fill out our audience questionnaire here: bit.ly/ukrainecastfeedback
Today’s episode is presented by Jamie Coomarasamy and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Laurie Kalus and Polly Hope. The technical producer was Dafydd Evans. The social producer was Sophie Millward. 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
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, Ukrainecast listeners. I need to ask you for a favour. We really appreciate all of you listening to the podcast, but we don't take your support for granted. |
| 0:11.1 | So, we're doing some research to find out how we can improve. |
| 0:15.9 | Loads of you have already filled out our questionnaire, but we want even more feedback. |
| 0:22.6 | So, if you haven't heard about it yet or just didn't quite get round to it, now is the moment to have your say. |
| 0:28.5 | You can find the link in our episode description for the eagle eyes of you, I promise that |
| 0:33.8 | it's there this time. Or just type the following URL |
| 0:37.6 | straight into your browser. |
| 0:39.9 | So here it is. |
| 0:41.5 | BIT.L.Y |
| 0:44.2 | forward slash |
| 0:45.5 | Ukrainecast feedback. |
| 0:47.3 | So bit. |
| 0:49.4 | dot LY |
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| 0:53.2 | One word. |
| 0:54.3 | I can't wait to hear what you think. |
| 0:57.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 1:00.8 | It's 1,282 days since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, |
| 1:07.1 | and Vitaly yet another major attack on Kiev overnight. |
| 1:11.0 | As we are recording this on Thursday, 17 people have been confirmed to have died in the attack of them for our children, including a two-year-old girl. |
| 1:26.8 | More people are missing and rescue operations are continuing. |
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