From Our Own Correspondent

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Kate Adie introduces insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents and writers.

Kate Adie introduces insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers telling stories from around the world.

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From Our Own Correspondent: The Story of a Russian War Crime

07/05/2022

The Story of a Russian War Crime

BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent, The Story of a Russian War Crime

How one woman in Bucha saw her husband murdered, her home and her life destroyed.

Murder in Ukraine, Finland's plans to join Nato, and an execution in Singapore, plus the Filipino trolls attacking journalists and lessons from Somalian beauty parlours.

The small city of Bucha, not far from Kyiv, has experienced some of the worst atrocities of the Russian invasion so far. It's understood that hundreds of civilians have been tortured, raped and murdered by Russian forces. Yogita Limaye has been hearing the story of one woman who experienced this horror first hand. 

The war in Ukraine has caused particular worry in Finland, which shares a long border - and turbulent history - with Russia. Finland only became independent from Russia in 1917, and, historically, the price of sustaining that independence was neutrality. Joining other European countries in NATO was out of the question - and by and large, most Finns were not interested anyway. But what a difference a few weeks make, as Allan Little found. 

As far as Singapore’s prosecutors were concerned, he was a drug smuggler, pure and simple. His mother though insisted he was a victim, a man of limited intelligence, who’d been tricked into carrying a small amount of heroin across the border from his home in Malaysia. Whatever the truth, the execution of Nagaenthran Dharmalingam was provided a moment of reflection in Singapore when it comes to the country's tough justice system, reports Suranjana Tewari. 

Journalism has long been a risky business in The Philippines - nearly a hundred journalists have been murdered there in the past decade. So when one receives a death threat there, they know it’s to be taken seriously. And that’s what happened to Howard Johnson, as the country's presidential election starts to heat up. He has found himself under fire from internet trolls who have taken exception to his attempt to pose the tough questions to election front-runner Bong Bong Marcos - son of the late dictator, Ferdinand Marcos. 

Somalia is a country which has suffered its fair share of problems – and to outsiders, it is seen perhaps as a country savaged by war. And yet, there is a side to Somalia and Somalian people which we never get to see, says Mary Harper.  For a start, she says, wherever they settle, one thing you can be sure of is there’ll be a place to get a bit of personal pampering – and with it, the chance to learn more about the reality of Somalian culture.

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