Viktoria's Story: Three years on

An old friend of the podcast, Viktoria Kovalenko, joins us in the studio. Viktoria has experienced the horrors of war first hand. Her husband and elder daughter were killed in front of her when they tried to escape the city of Chernihiv in 2022. Three years on she’s forging a new life with her four-year-old in the UK. She tells us how she’s adapting to life here, what she thinks about Donald Trump and how she remembers the family members she’s lost.

Plus - the BBC’s security correspondent, Frank Gardner, considers the international response to deadly missile strikes on Sumy over the weekend and how Steve Witkoff’s talks with Vladimir Putin went in Russia.

Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Laurie Kalus and Ben Carter. The technical producer was Gareth Jones. The editor was Max Deveson. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. Email [e-mail] with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to [phone]

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