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From Our Own Correspondent: The flight from Ukraine

Magazines & Reviews

The flight from Ukraine

12/03/2022 GMT

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, The flight from Ukraine

Lives uprooted by war in Ukraine, plus stories from India, Zimbabwe and France.

Lives devastated and uprooted in Ukraine, India’s elections, failing health care in Zimbabwe and a culture clash in an eight century French Abbey.

More than two million people have now fled Ukraine because of the Russian invasion and the UN's High Commission for Refugees estimates that a further two million have become displaced inside the country.  Fergal Keane is in the city of Lviv where people are trying to find shelter or transport to take them out of Ukraine. He’s covered the conflict with Russia and its proxy forces since it began in 2014 and has witnessed the upheaval that many have faced, including those who have become friends.

More than 180 million voters went to the polls in 5 of India’s states this week, including  the largest in the country, Uttar Pradesh. The state is seen as a bellwether for how the country is likely to vote in the general election in 2024. The governing BJP has retained a firm hold on the state and its Chief Minister, a Hindu-monk-turned politician, Yogi Adityanath, is emerging as a favourite to succeed Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Rajini Vaidyanathan has watched him rise to prominence and finds that he has a strong following.

Zimbabwe’s healthcare system was once viewed as one of the best in sub-Saharan Africa. After independence in 1980, the majority of Zimbabweans gained access to education and health care and the country developed a sophisticated public health infrastructure. Infant and maternal mortality rates fell and life expectancy improved. By the 1990s, the economy was faltering, health funding was cut and Government policies failed. Today, doctors and nurses are leaving the country in ever-higher numbers. Shingai Nyoka visited two clinics in the capital Harare, and saw a healthcare system disintegrating.

Set deep in the rugged landscape of south-western France is the medieval village of Lagrasse, which is home to an eight century Abbey.  Since 2004, the Abbey has been divided in two parts, one side is occupied by a group of left-leaning intellectuals and the other by a traditional catholic religious order. This arrangement ran relatively smoothly at first until a contretemps over a festival some fifteen years ago. Since then relations have deteriorated, and recently reached a low point over the publication of a book. Chris Bockman went to find out more.

Presenter:  Pascale Harter
Producer:  Diane Richardson
Editor:  Emma Close

(Image: Refugees wait for their transfer to Poland at the train station in Lviv. Credit: Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach)

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