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From Our Own Correspondent: On Kharkiv's Frontline

19/03/2022

On Kharkiv's Frontline

BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent, On Kharkiv's Frontline

Russia's bombardment of Kharkiv has laid bare the horror of the invasion.

Russia's bombardment of Kharkiv has laid bare the horror of the invasion and brought back memories of attacks on cities in Syria.

Ukraine saw further indiscriminate attacks across the country this week, including an attack on a theatre sheltering civilians in Mariupol. The city of Kharkiv has also been under constant attack, and the dead are often left in the street as it's too dangerous to bury them. Quentin Sommerville reflects on the horror unfolding on the ground.

Russia's tactics in Ukraine are familiar to the people of Syria, where Vladimir Putin’s military support for President Assad helped raze cities to the ground. Leila Molana-Allen spoke to some of the people still living through that war, who are now watching events unfold in Ukraine.

Western intelligence sources have expressed concerns about Russian activity in Moldova, which neighbours Ukraine. Moldova is also a former Soviet state, with a Russian-speaking separatist insurgency in the east. Newsnight’s Sima Kotecha spoke to Moldova’s Prime Minister about her fears of what may lie ahead, and hears how the country is struggling to cope with the influx of refugees.  

In rural Kenya, most of the population live and work on the farms that are the backbone of the country’s economy., but access to electricity is sparse.  Mercy Juma visited the village of Kenyanjeru, where a young entrepreneur decided to give himself a crash course in engineering, so he could supply power to his neighbours. 

Last year, Chile elected Gabriel Boric as their new president - a landslide victory for the radical left wing, ex-student leader. Mr Boric, keen to diverge from the style of his predecessors, has embarked on a property hunt in a working-class district in downtown Santiago. Jane Chambers went to explore his new neighbourhood.  

Presenter: Kate Adie
Producer: Serena Tarling and Polly Hope
Editor: Emma Close and Richard Fenton-Smith

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