The Battle for the City of Bakhmut
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 10 January 2023
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Soledar, only 10 kilometers from Bakhmut, looks set to be the first major Russian gain since the summer. The BBC’s James Waterhouse has been in Bakhmut, the city that both countries regard as totemic in the conflict. Called the ‘meat grinder’ by the head of the Wagner Group, James found a city almost uninhabitable.
But with new weapons on the way from the West, could Ukraine’s forces be about to move from defensive to offensive mode? Frank Gardner tells us they could be a game-changer.
And Alina Revcko, an English teacher who works with the British Council in a village near Kyiv, tells us about the struggle to keep teaching amidst the chaos and disruption of the war.
Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaliy Shevchenko. The producers were 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
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:04.8 | Hello, it's 321 days since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. |
| 0:10.1 | Two British aid workers have gone missing in the east of Ukraine. |
| 0:14.0 | We're fighting, as we know is fierce. |
| 0:17.3 | The men Chris Perry and Andrew Backshore |
| 0:20.6 | have been delivering aid and evacuating citizens. |
| 0:24.4 | This is Chris speaking to James Churchfield on BBC Cornwall. |
| 0:34.0 | And what keeps you there? What keeps you doing this? |
| 0:37.5 | I think it's generically a drive to health, |
| 0:39.6 | because the people here are so lovely. |
| 0:42.0 | It's quite remarkable, even though very few in speaking English. |
| 0:44.6 | As soon as they hear me speaking in this weird foreign language, |
| 0:48.4 | they just smile and they want to say hello in whatever language they think I'm speaking. |
| 0:53.6 | But then when you do get requests, |
| 0:55.8 | when you actually do manage to get a small child out, |
| 0:58.9 | and they're kind of non-the-wise there, |
| 1:00.9 | they're coming into the big city and they're like, |
| 1:02.5 | oh wow, look at all these houses, |
| 1:04.7 | these buildings with lights on. |
| 1:05.9 | And I'm looking at that car, it's not burning. |
| 1:08.5 | You think something's not right here, |
| 1:10.1 | like it's quite incredible that these kids are so positive. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.