Ukraine’s wartime Christmas
Ukrainecast
BBC
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 23 December 2022
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As Ukraine prepares for its first Christmas since the Russian invasion, a friend in Kyiv tells us it’s one of struggle and defiance.
It’s also Vitaly’s first Christmas with his family safely in the UK. How will they spend it?
Natalia Zarytska gives us an update on her husband Bogdan’s long road to recovery since his release from Russian detention.
And we speak to Oleksandr Pikalov, a friend of Volodymyr Zelensky since childhood, about the time he introduced the future president to his future wife.
Today’s episode is presented by Lyse Doucet and Vitaliy Shevchenko. The producers were Arsenii Sokolov 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 Jonathan Aspinwall. 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. |
| 0:05.0 | It's three hundred and three days since Russia invaded Ukraine. |
| 0:09.6 | And it's the days leading up to Christmas and the New Year. |
| 0:13.1 | And what a time it is. |
| 0:15.0 | Many of you will have seen images of Ukraine now, entire towns and cities reduced to rubble, |
| 0:21.6 | generators struggling to keep some lights on in the midst of the severe power cuts. |
| 0:27.0 | Yet, the spirit of Ukraine still shines, the resolve that has kept this nation on its feet. |
| 0:39.0 | The sirens still sound. |
| 0:45.0 | But there's also this sound of crowds cheering as the lights go on in Kiev. |
| 0:50.0 | The traditional folk song is sung. |
| 1:04.0 | Around the world, choirs and cathedrals are singing Shedric, that famous Ukrainian carol. |
| 1:21.0 | In Kraków, Kent and Carnegie Hall in New York. |
| 1:37.0 | And in a week where President Zelensky traveled to America to hold the world's attention, |
| 1:42.0 | we wanted to know more about just who he is. |
| 1:45.0 | And we're going to hear on the podcast from one of his oldest and closest friends, |
| 1:51.0 | he even introduced the President to his future wife. |
| 1:56.0 | This is Ukraine cast. |
| 1:59.0 | Ukraine cast from this news. |
| 2:03.0 | The question for us now is to be or not to be. |
| 2:07.0 | I'm ordering the Minister of Defence to put the strategic nuclear forces on special alert. |
| 2:13.0 | I could not imagine that I would find out that actually my home is bombed. |
| 2:18.0 | Putin is the aggression. |
... |
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