Ukraine’s defiance, four years on
The Global Story
BBC
3.8 • 668 Ratings
🗓️ 25 February 2026
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week marks four years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the largest and deadliest conflict in Europe since WW2.
Ukraine has put its official losses at 55,000 soldiers, and the BBC has verified the deaths of more than 180,000 on the Russian side, although the true toll is likely to be much higher. Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed or wounded, and millions have been displaced.
In today’s episode, the BBC’s international editor Jeremy Bowen, travels through Ukraine, speaking to people living on the front line, to soldiers, and to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, about what they would concede – if anything - for a peace deal with Russia.
Producer: Hannah Moore
Executive producer: Bridget Harney
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: A Ukrainian woman attends a memorial ceremony for fallen servicemen at the Military Cemetery in Kharkiv. Credit: Sergey Kozlov/EPA/Shutterstock.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.0 | Four years ago, President Vladimir Putin made a decision that would reshape Europe. |
| 0:12.0 | I've made a decision of a special, |
| 0:15.0 | ...Voenanyi operation. |
| 0:17.0 | Vladimir Putin has just addressed the Russian people moment ago, announcing what Putin called the start of a military special operation, in his words, |
| 0:25.9 | to demilitarize Ukraine. |
| 0:28.8 | The estimates of just how many people have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine vary. |
| 0:36.3 | But whichever data point you use, it is undeniable |
| 0:39.6 | that the death toll is huge. Ukraine has put its official losses at 55,000 soldiers, and the BBC |
| 0:47.2 | has verified more than 180,000 on the Russian side. Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed, |
| 0:55.4 | millions have fled. |
| 0:57.6 | For those who've stayed on Ukraine's front lines, |
| 1:00.5 | what is life like today? |
| 1:02.2 | We're joined by the BBC's international editor, Jeremy Bowen. |
| 1:06.1 | He's been speaking to soldiers, civilians, |
| 1:08.2 | and even Ukraine's president about whether peace is possible. |
| 1:14.0 | From the BBC, I'm Asma Khalid, and today on the global story, inside Ukraine after four years of war. |
| 1:30.9 | Jeremy, thanks so much for joining us again on the show. We really appreciate it. |
| 1:32.1 | Oh, good to be with you. |
| 1:43.1 | Jeremy, you've spent the past few weeks traveling around Ukraine, talking to people who've been living through this war for four years now. Where did you start your journey? |
| 1:45.0 | I've actually been here about three weeks, |
| 1:49.4 | and we've seen quite a bit of the country. We started off in Leviv, in Western Ukraine, |
... |
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