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From Our Own Correspondent: Ukraine's Battlefield Doctors

18/06/2022

Ukraine's Battlefield Doctors

BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent, Ukraine's Battlefield Doctors

How Ukrainian surgeons are learning to operate in the middle of a warzone.

Ukrainian surgeons operating under fire, Georgia's fears of Russian aggression, and a trip to see Congo's giant peat bog, plus Iraq's Yazidis and how to open a Greek bank account.

The task of a surgeon is not an easy one at the best of times, but some in Ukraine are having learn how to carry out operations in the midst of a battlefield. Many have been taught how to do this by the British surgeon, David Nott, who has worked in conflict zones around the globe. Wyre Davies joined one of his classes.

Russia’s attack on Ukraine has left other countries wondering if they might be next. Fourteen countries have land borders with Russia, and eight of these were once part of the old Soviet Union, which Vladimir Putin at times seems keen to resurrect. Zeinab Badawi has been to Georgia, where she says many feel like they are now right on the front line.

We owe the planet’s peat bogs a debt of gratitude, as they effectively suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, and store it underground. Andrew Harding travelled deep into the Republic of Congo, to see a vast area of peat the size of England, which is currently under threat.

The Yazidi people of northern Iraq suffered horrific atrocities at the hands of the group which calls itself Islamic State. IS has now been driven out of the Yazidi homeland, Mount Sinjar, but the Yazidi people now find themselves caught up in their country's fractious politics, with different groups fighting for their loyalty, and with guns as well as persuasion. Shelly Kittleson learns how this has left communities - and families - bitterly divided.

Banks want your custom., or at least, you might think so, given the number of adverts suggesting they offering the most favourable interest rates, and perhaps the broadest smile on the faces of their staff. However, when Alba Arikha recently had to open a bank account in Greece, she found herself having to fight hard just to give them her money.

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