The Church, the Kremlin and the ceasefire that wasn’t
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 6 January 2023
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Russia announces a unilateral 36-hour ceasefire for Orthodox Christmas, but Ukraine calls it cynical propaganda. The BBC reporter in Moscow, Will Vernon, tells us about the influence of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, who proposed the Christmas truce and the reaction it has had in Moscow.
Valeriia Hesse from the Open Nuclear Network joins us to answer a Ukrainecast listener’s question about Ukraine’s nuclear power plants.
And finally we clear up how to make the traditional Christmas dish of Kutia with restaurant owner Olga Tsybytovska.
Today’s episode is presented by Lyse Doucet and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Ivana Davidovic, Clare Williamson and Luke Radcliff. The technical producer was Emma Crowe. 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
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| 0:00.0 | BBC sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:04.8 | It's 317 days since Russia invaded Ukraine, and maybe like no other. |
| 0:12.4 | This is a war that's being fought as much on the airwaves as on the battlefield. |
| 0:17.3 | Ukraine, for one, depends on keeping the hearts and minds of European and U.S. citizens |
| 0:23.2 | on board. |
| 0:24.5 | If their governments are going to continue sending the weapons, it so urgently needs. |
| 0:31.5 | It's viral videos like these, but the Ukrainian defense ministry is excelling at. |
| 0:46.8 | This is a soldier in full Terminator mode sending, in his words, a message to Russian occupiers. |
| 1:06.8 | Vitaly, what's it all about in a sentence? |
| 1:10.8 | He says he's Captain Hamas and he's Russian soldiers only chance of getting back home alive, |
| 1:19.1 | but for that they need to give him the coordinates of their commander's headquarters and locations |
| 1:25.4 | where their army kit is located. |
| 1:28.6 | So loads to talk about in today's podcast, the so-called ceasefire, but also who is |
| 1:34.4 | Patriarch Kirill and what's happened to the nuclear plant in Zaporizia since the last |
| 1:40.4 | covered it. |
| 1:41.6 | And Vitaly, a very difficult Ukraine cast for you, you're not getting away with it. |
| 1:46.6 | Kuchia, for many people across the world, it's Christmas Eve today and we're finally |
| 1:52.0 | going to get to the bottom of the Kuchia question. |
| 1:56.2 | Here we go again. |
| 1:59.2 | Is Ukraine cast? |
| 2:01.2 | Ukraine cast, for many reasons. |
| 2:04.2 | The question for us now is to be or not to be. |
... |
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