Hello, I'm Ben James on the BBC World Service and this is BBC OS Conversations,

Women in Ukraine and Russia.

As the possibility of war is widely discussed, we hear from three women in Ukraine's capital

about the prospect of fighting for their country. And also, three Russian women with their

take on the tensions with their neighbour. Out of my circle of friends, relatives, acquaintances,

you know, everybody wants to have fun or listen to music or be with their loved ones and travel

and everything. Nobody in their right mind wants war over here.

There's been much international focus on the border between Russia and Ukraine, where

President Vladimir Putin has sent an estimated 100,000 Russian troops. Many of the residents of

the two countries that the BBC has been talking to in recent days echo that sentiment you've

just heard that generally people don't want the situation to escalate. But the talk amongst

world leaders has been tough. Here's US President Joe Biden. There will be enormous consequences

if he were to go in and bathe as he could the entire country or a lot less than that as well.

For Russia, not only in terms of economic consequences and political consequences, but

it will be enormous consequences worldwide. This would be the largest, if he were to move in

with all those forces, it would be the largest invasion since World War II. It would change the world.

Many have been guessing what President Putin's next move will be. The official word from Russia,

though, is that it does not want war. Apart from Russia's vast territory, which stretches to

Asia, Ukraine is the largest country in Europe. It borders seven other countries, including,

of course, Russia. And if you speak to Ukrainians, many say they live with conflict,

pointing to the sporadic fighting in the east of the country with pro-Russian rebels.

That goes back to 2014 when Russia occupied Crimea, which is a part of Ukraine. We'll discuss

...