Summary
Viktoria Kovalenko tells us about the day her husband Petro and 12-year-old daughter Veronika were killed when the road they were travelling on to find safety was bombed.
She explains to Victoria and Vitaly how taking care of her one-year-old baby is the only thing that keeps her sane. And how she's now been waiting for nearly 50 days for a visa to the UK.
They also speak to Derek Edwards from https://homesforukraine.org, an organisation he set up to help Ukrainians, including Viktoria, seek refuge in the UK. With him, is 17 year old Anna Merchuk, who talks about resettling in England and her hopes for the future.
And we talk through the latest in the conflict as new research from Amnesty International shows Russia has killed hundreds of civilians using indiscriminate shelling and widely-banned cluster munitions.
This episode of Ukrainecast was made by Estelle Doyle with Ivana Davidovic, Chris Flynn and Osman Iqbal. The technical producer was Emma Crowe. The planning producer is Louise Hidalgo. 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 to +44 0330 1239480.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:05.0 | Hello, this is Day 110 of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine. |
| 0:10.0 | And today we're bringing you the story of Victoria Krovelenko. |
| 0:13.8 | I don't know what drove me exactly, probably it was the instinct, survivor instinct. |
| 0:26.7 | I had been motivated and driven by fear for my child |
| 0:30.5 | because she hadn't even been walking at that stage. |
| 0:34.0 | And subconsciously, I had been thinking that if I were to die, |
| 0:40.0 | she would not survive because it was still cold |
| 0:43.6 | and she wasn't walking, so she was alone. |
| 0:50.0 | This is Ukraine cast. |
| 0:52.4 | Ukraine cast from this place. |
| 0:56.2 | The question for us now is to be or not to be. |
| 0:59.2 | I'm ordering the Ministry of Defence to put the strategic nuclear forces on special alert. |
| 1:05.2 | I could not imagine that I would find out that actually my home is bombed. |
| 1:10.2 | Who is the aggression? |
| 1:12.2 | He will never be able to cleanse the blood from his hands. |
| 1:17.2 | Hello, this is Victoria in the Ukraine cast studio. |
| 1:20.2 | Hello, this is Vitaly, also in the studio. |
| 1:23.2 | We are going to give you an update of what's been happening on the ground in Ukraine a little later in this episode. |
| 1:28.2 | But first, we are going to begin with Victoria Krovelenko's story. |
| 1:33.2 | And Victoria is going to talk about some experiences which are very upsetting. |
| 1:40.2 | But she wants to talk about what happened to some members of her family. |
... |
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