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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: Ukraine's Counter-Offensive

27/05/2023

Ukraine's Counter-Offensive

BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent, Ukraine's Counter-Offensive

Residents endure rocket attacks as the president plans the next stage of the war.

Residents in Ukraine's cities, towns and villages endure  routine Russian rocket attacks, as President Zelensky plans the next stage of the war.

Kate Adie introduces dispatches from Ukraine, Greece, Armenia, the US-Mexico border and Indonesia's Raja Ampat Islands.

There have been months of speculation about when and how Ukraine might use its armed forces, and their new weaponry, in a counter-offensive to take back territory occupied by Russia. Russian attacks are still hitting Ukrainian cities almost every day. Hugo Bachega describes how two men in Kyiv - a civilian whose home was bombed, and the President, who must lead the country through this war - are keeping their nerve.

Before the Greek election there was plenty of talk about the frustrated ambitions of young Greeks, and public outrage over cronyism in politics. Yet Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was re-elected, and his wasn't the only familiar face to be brought back to govern in Athens. Nick Beake covered the campaign, and gained a few insights into the enduring power of the country's political dynasties along the way. 

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been discussing normalising relations, and reopening transport links, in peace talks in Moscow - but there are still many potential stumbling blocks along the road to a settlement. The disputed enclave of Nagorno Karabakh is at the heart of the matter, but as Emily Craig heard while visiting southern Armenia, many people in the country still feel they're on a permanent war footing. 

Last week, international media readied themselves to cover an expected surge of people trying to cross the border into the United States from Mexico. It was believed that the expiry of the Title 42 regulations would trigger a new migration crisis. Yet it didn't happen - even though there are thousands of people still trying to enter the US. Bernd Debusmann Jr  reports from the streets of El Paso. 

And in the island archipelago of Raja Ampat, in the Southwest Papua province of Indonesia, Sara Wheeler has recently seen wonders - including a rare glimpse of the purple tail of a Wilson's bird of paradise, and a walking shark in some of the world's most biodiverse waters. 

Producer: Polly Hope
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross

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