Ukraine marks 34 years of independence with defiant message
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 24 August 2025
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Ceremonies have been taking place today in Ukraine to mark 34 years since the country gained its independence from the Soviet Union. President Zelensky said that, three-and-a-half years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Ukraine would not settle for anything less than a just and lasting peace. The BBC’s Zhanna Bezpiatchuk tells us about the mood in Kyiv today.
Also in the programme: the Nigerian military says it’s killed more than 30 jihadists in recent air strikes; and the Palestinian teachers in a displacement camp in Gaza City who are sharing their musical knowledge with children.
(Photo: A Ukrainian flag flutters next to the Independence Monument at the Independence Square in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine, 23rd August 2025. Credit: Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA/Shutterstock)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to NewsA. from the BBC World Service. We're coming to you live from London. I'm James Menendez. |
| 0:14.6 | Ceremonies have been taking place today in Ukraine to mark 34 years since the country gained its independence from the Soviet Union after the end of the Cold War. |
| 0:28.2 | But that historical legacy is still playing out today, of course. |
| 0:32.3 | The Russian leader President Putin still maintains that Ukraine is part of its sphere of influence. |
| 0:38.5 | His full-scale invasion of 2022 was the ultimate violent expression of that belief. |
| 0:44.8 | And the war continues three and a half years later, despite President Trump's overtures to Mr Putin at the Alaska summit nine days ago. |
| 0:53.3 | While Ukraine's president, Vladimir Zelensky, recorded a special video address for this |
| 0:57.5 | Independence Day, standing in Maidan Square, in the heart of the capital Keev. |
| 1:07.6 | We need a just peace, a peace where our future will be decided only by us, and the world knows this, the world respects this. It respects Ukraine, it treats Ukraine as equal. |
| 1:19.6 | Ukraine which can truly in one day gather and unite the leaders of the world around itself. Ukraine, with which America and the whole world want to jointly produce |
| 1:29.1 | drones. Ukraine, which restored the unity of Europe and the USA, and is now the foundation of this |
| 1:35.6 | alliance. President Zelensky there. Well, let's talk to Janja Bespierchuk, who's our correspondent |
| 1:40.9 | in Kiev. Good to have you with us. I mean, it is hard to celebrate, |
| 1:44.6 | of course, in the middle of a war. What was the mood like today, do you think? |
| 1:50.4 | I think, first of all, on the one hand, this mood is similar to that one that Ukrainians had in |
| 1:58.3 | the previous years of the war. Yesterday, one of the questions |
| 2:01.6 | that was raised by many people, whether Russia is going to strike today or immediately |
| 2:07.4 | afterwards, because the Russian leadership likes this kind of symbolism to carry out attacks |
| 2:13.9 | against Ukraine on specific dates. That's the first thing. |
| 2:18.2 | The other thing is, of course, |
| 2:19.3 | that Ukrainians also try to use these celebrations at this day |
| 2:23.8 | to raise money for the army, for example, |
... |
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.