Ukrainecast

Captured, imprisoned, tortured: Anna’s story

Anna Olsen was working as an army paramedic in Ukraine’s 36th Brigade when she was captured by Russian forces during the siege of Mariupol.The mother-of-one experienced psychological and physical torture before she was released in a prisoner exchange, after more than six months in Russian captivity. She tells us her story.And the BBC’s Security Correspondent, Frank Gardner, explains the importance of the latest prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine - and why Middle Eastern countries have been mediating the process. Today’s episode is presented by Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaly Shevchenko.
 
It was made by Keiligh Baker. The producers were Cordelia Hemming and Ivana Davidovic. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Lucy Boast. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
 
Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord

The BBC’s only English language programme entirely dedicated to the war in Ukraine and its fallout, Ukrainecast, is your go-to podcast which investigates the biggest issues around the conflict. Could Putin push the nuclear button? How could Donald Trump end the war in 24 hours? What is the price for peace? The podcast is hosted by Newsnight presenter Victoria Derbyshire and BBC Monitoring’s Vitaly Shevchenko. Ukrainecast covers the most important topics around the conflict and speaks to the real people who’ve lived through several years of war. It also brings you agenda-setting interviews with special guests each week such as UK foreign secretary David Cameron, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and pre-eminent Russia expert Fiona Hill.GET IN TOUCH: 
You can join our Ukrainecast online community here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord 
Send us a message or voicenote via WhatsApp to +443301239480 
Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.ukYou can now listen to Ukrainecast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Ukrainecast”. It works on most smart speakers.If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on BBC Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app. If you enjoy Ukrainecast (and if you’re reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below:The Global Story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvsd 
The Today Podcast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r 
Americast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p07h19zz 
Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p05299nl