4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 7 June 2025
⏱️ 29 minutes
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Kate Adie introduces stories from Ukraine, Chile, Indonesia, and France.
Ukraine’s audacious drone raid on Russian airbases was met with disbelief that such an attack was even possible. Operation ‘Spider’s Web’ was 18 months in the planning, and caused huge damage to Russia's bomber fleet. But as Paul Adams discovered, civilians in Kyiv are uneasy about celebrating this success, fearful of how Russia might respond.
Approximately one fifth of Ukraine is currently under Russian occupation. Russia doesn’t allow foreign journalists to enter the occupied territories, but the BBC’s Olga Malchevska has been corresponding in secret with Ukrainian civilians in Crimea, through which she learned of the risks they face for small acts of resistance.
During the rule of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in the 70s and 80s, thousands of babies were illegally kidnapped and adopted by couples abroad. Today, many of Chile’s ‘stolen children’ are in a race against time to trace their aging mothers. Jane Chambers was there as one mother and daughter reunited.
The coral reefs of Raja Ampat in Indonesia are among the most beautiful on Earth, but last year suffered a mass bleaching event which left reefs in some regions resembling white desert plains. Mark Stratton reports from West Papua where locals are worried that over-tourism is making the reefs even more vulnerable.
And we’re in Normandy in Northern France, where this week the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings was commemorated. Each year, commemorations take on greater significance as the number of war veterans able to attend declines. Ash Bhardwarj visited one village keeping their memory alive.
Series Producer: Serena Tarling Production Coordinators: Katie Morrison & Sophie Hill Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
0:00.0 | Hello. Today in Crimea, Ukrainians living under Russian occupation reveal their small acts of |
0:12.4 | resistance. A mother and daughter reunite in Chile after being separated decades ago under the |
0:19.5 | dictatorship of General Pinochet. |
0:21.6 | We're in West Papua, home to spectacular coral reefs, but they're under strain from over-tourism. |
0:29.6 | And finally, we join the Centenarian War veterans, returning to Normandy to mark 81 years since the D-Day landings. |
0:40.3 | But first, news of Ukraine's massive drone raid on Russian air bases this week |
0:45.9 | was met with huge surprise and disbelief that such an audacious attack was even possible. |
0:53.0 | Operation Spider's Web was 18 months in the planning, |
0:56.9 | according to Ukraine's security service, |
0:59.7 | during which time scores of drones were smuggled into Russia |
1:03.1 | and distributed across the country. |
1:06.1 | Ukrainian media was euphoric after the attack, |
1:09.1 | though many Ukrainians remain wary, with no further progress |
1:13.6 | made in peace talks and as Russia began its retaliatory strikes. Paul Adams reports from Kiev. |
1:22.4 | Kiev's War Museum, or to give it its proper name, the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, |
1:29.7 | is what you might call a work in progress. It sits in an enviable position on high ground |
1:35.4 | overlooking the wide Denepro River. Above it rises the monumental titanium statue of Mother |
1:41.7 | Ukraine, gleaming sword and shield held aloft. |
1:45.7 | Nearby, the golden and green domes of the ancient Pachescalavra Monastery compete for |
1:50.9 | domination of the skyline. When Mother-Mutherland was built, as a Soviet monument at the end of the |
1:56.7 | 1970s, the design called for a longer sword. Legend has it that the church said no, it couldn't be taller than the monastery's bell tower. |
2:06.0 | Standing 10 metres taller than the Statue of Liberty, it's still an epic, gleaming statement. |
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