Russia launches huge overnight bombing of Ukraine
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 22 February 2026
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
*Ukraine says Russia has carried out another massive overnight attack, involving 50 missiles and nearly 300 drones.
Speaking two days before the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky said the latest attacks targeted his country's energy sector as well as residential buildings.
We'll hear from a Ukrainian professional sportsman-turned-soldier on what the nearly four years of war have done to his country.
Also in the programme: The students protesting in Iran for the first time since last month's deadly crackdown; Canada and the US face off in the men's ice hockey final. And the Norwegian crowned the Winter Olympics' greatest ever athlete.
(Photo shows houses heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine on 22 February 2026. Credit: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.3 | Hello and welcome to Newsare. It's coming to live from the BBC World Service studios in central London. |
| 0:15.3 | I'm Tim Franks. We're going to bring you some voices of defiance today. |
| 0:20.0 | The sound of those who refuse to be cowed in the face of violence from another country's military, from their own country's security forces, and from a network of abusive men. |
| 0:31.2 | And we've also got some terrific voices from the Winter Olympics as the Games draw to a close in Italy. |
| 0:37.5 | We're going to begin in Ukraine, though, and that continuing assault by Russia, |
| 0:42.0 | almost four years to the day since Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion. |
| 0:47.1 | The Ukrainian Air Force say that in the latest nationwide bombardment, |
| 0:51.7 | Russia launched dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones. One man was killed |
| 0:57.2 | and four children injured in the Kiev region. Boris Johnson was the British Prime Minister when |
| 1:03.0 | four years ago Russian troops poured across the border. Speaking to the BBC, Mr Johnson said that |
| 1:09.1 | the proposed deployment of British and other European NATO troops to Ukraine should not now wait until there's a ceasefire. |
| 1:16.9 | There's no logical reason that I can see why we shouldn't send some peaceful ground forces there to show our support, our constitutional support for a free independent |
| 1:31.3 | Ukraine. That this is a political thing. It's about whether Ukraine is a free country or not. |
| 1:36.1 | If it's a vassal state of Russia, which is what Putin wants, then obviously it's up to Putin |
| 1:41.9 | to decide who comes to his country. If it's not, then it's up to the Ukrainians. |
| 1:46.8 | The former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, |
| 1:49.3 | Paul Adams is our diplomatic correspondent and is currently in Kiev. |
| 1:53.3 | Paul, I'll ask you to reflect on Boris Johnson's comments in a moment. |
| 1:56.7 | But before that, this overnight assault from Russia and also reports of an explosion in the Western City, Leviv, what can you tell us? |
| 2:09.2 | Yeah, two sort of separate developments there, Tim. |
| 2:11.3 | One, as you say, ongoing attack on Ukrainian infrastructure, energy facilities, as always, but also interestingly, railway and |
... |
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