Russia's shadow army
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 3 August 2022
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Vitaly, Frank and Irena are looking into the Wagner Group, Russia’s private army that is allegedly involved in the Ukraine war.
The group has been active over the past eight years in Ukraine, Syria and several African countries, and has repeatedly been accused of war crimes.
We hear from ex Wagner fighter Marat Gabidullin about his experience and why Russia is relying on a private army.
And Vitaly talks to Vladimir Osechkin, a former prisoner and now a human rights activist whose organisation, Gulagu.net, alleges that the Wagner Group and Russian security services are actively recruiting in Russian prisons for the Ukraine war.
The BBC’s Tim Whewell discusses his up-coming documentary on people living in the Ukrainian port city of Kherson under Russian occupation.
The series producer is Estelle Doyle. The producers are Clare Williamson, Arsenii Sokolov and Ivana Davidovic. Planning producer is Louise Hidalgo. The technical producer is Emma Crowe and 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. |
| 0:04.7 | Hello, it's 161 days since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. |
| 0:09.9 | Weapons from Ukraine's western allies have been arriving in Ukraine since before the |
| 0:14.7 | war. |
| 0:15.7 | But in June, a new weapon arrived, which has been getting lots of headlines ever since. |
| 0:21.6 | The so-called high-mass, which stands for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, supplied |
| 0:27.3 | to Ukraine by the United States. |
| 0:29.9 | The same hours, fires rockets pretty accurately from the back of a truck, and it's got |
| 0:34.1 | a range of more than 40 miles, more than 70 kilometers. |
| 0:37.9 | And so pleased are the Ukrainians to have this system, and so keen are they to talk up |
| 0:43.3 | its success. |
| 0:44.5 | The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence posted a video of the rockets in action with this soundtrack. |
| 0:58.4 | And a Sandman by Metallica. |
| 1:05.0 | The Ministry's social media post plays on the lyrics, exit light, and to high-mars exit |
| 1:10.2 | Russians, that's what they've written. |
| 1:12.8 | And the weapons are making a difference, aren't they, Frank? |
| 1:16.1 | They certainly are. |
| 1:17.1 | The Ukrainians say they haven't got enough of them, but where they have been able to |
| 1:20.3 | deploy them. |
| 1:21.3 | They have really shocked the Russians by being able to hit their artillery, their long range |
| 1:26.6 | artillery much further away than they've previously been able to. |
| 1:30.3 | And I think I'd draw the analogy again of two boxes, one with long arms and one with |
... |
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