What does Christmas look like for Ukraine? | Global News Podcast

Welcome to the global news podcast on. YouTube where we go behind the headlines. of a story and tell you why it really. matters. I'm Anker Desai and on this. last episode before Christmas, we're. looking at Ukraine and we're going to. discuss what's going on in the war, but. also how residents are feeling as the. conflict near its 4-year anniversary and. where peace talks are at. To discuss. this, I've got Samir Hussein, who's with. me live from Kev. Samira, thank you so. much for joining me and for your time. Um, I guess we're speaking to you as we. record on the 23rd of December. So, just.

a couple of days away from Christmas, but sadly no swift sign of the war. ending anytime soon. It's frankly quite. the opposite. Yeah, this morning in Kev. and all across Ukraine, in fact, there. were hundreds of drones. Actually, according to President Vladimir. Zalinski, there were some more than 600. drones that were unleashed right across. Ukraine by Russia. And Ukraine's air. defense systems really kicked into gear.

and they were managed to be able to sort. of protect the city. But you can see. behind me there's this building that was. completely bombed out and uh and that. was a result of one of the drones. hitting this apartment building. There. were five people that were injured here. And you can see just how quickly people. are getting the roof and trying to get. it back, put it back together again. And. that's just because it's really cold. here. And it's going to get even colder.

as night falls. So there's a real sense. of pressure in order to be able to try. and make these buildings habitable for. people um as the temperatures start to. drop. And you've been speaking to some. of the residents as well. Just give us a. sense of how they're feeling and some of. the conversations you've been having. with them. >> Yeah, you know, one resident I spoke to. actually lives in the build in the one. of the apartments right over here and. she described the moment when the drone.

hit and just the loud noise and that all. this debris sort of fell into her. apartment. and she was saying that, you. know, she's very lucky to be alive that. had she been sat uh in another part of. her apartment, all this glass and debris. would have hit her and she would have. for sure been injured. I was speaking to. another couple as well and they just. describe being, you know, up to their. daily morning routine when suddenly they. heard this blast and they felt the.

reverberations in their apartment and. things started to fall and they were. still in this. They still had the sense. of shock, but they were also quite. angry. angry that this this attack. happened, angry that the war continues. and angry that this is all happening. around Christmas time. And we heard from. President Zullinsky who had earlier. warned about the potential for more.

attacks around this time of year that he. said that look this is in Russia's. nature. You know, this is a time for. people to gather with families and to. celebrate. Um but now we're seeing that. this is a Russia's attempt to disrupt. that. >> Yeah. And and bearing in mind that. Ukraine are aligning Christmas with the. West uh in order to I guess have some. sort of distance from from Russia. because usually Ukrainians would. celebrate Christmas a little bit later. So I guess again the sense of the mood.

Ukrainians are feeling during this. festive season, it it looks like it's. going to be a very difficult time yet. again for them. Yeah, you know that I. went to this uh Saints Pia Square which. is in Kev and there's this beautifully. decorated ornate Christmas tree and they. were serving some mold wine in the. corner and there were lots of families. that had come together taking selfies. There were little children that were. taking rides in a toy train that was. making the rounds and there's this real.

attempt to try and enjoy some of the. holiday season. And I spoke with one. man. He's a serviceman and he was there. with his very young daughter and his. wife. And he said just how important it. was to try and show that there's not. just war happening, that there there is. a festive season, that it is Christmas, and that there can be some levity in. this time of darkness. But the reality. is Ukraine is still a country at war. And especially if you go to some of the.

eastern regions and especially uh the. southeastern port of uh Odessa that has. really been hit quite hard over the last. several days. Thousands of people. without any water or electricity and. because Russia's attacks today were. really targeting a lot of the energy. infrastructure. Um, officials here say. it could be several days before power is. restored to everyone in Ukraine, which.

means it's going to be a very cold and. dark Christmas for so many in this. country. >> What more do we know about the European. Union and the funding that they're. trying to give to Ukraine in order to. help sustain their war efforts? Well, that 90 billion euro loan that was. agreed upon last week is certainly going. to go a long way for Ukraine. And you'll. remember that before going into those. negotiations to try and release some of. the Russian frozen assets, uh, President.

Zalinsky was really sounding the alarm. in terms of just how little money there. was left for this war effort. and he. made it clear that that if uh Ukraine. didn't get any more money, it was going. to have to dramatically reduce its drone. production. So, this injection of cash. is certainly going to go a long way. >> And of course, the crucial element of. all of this are our peace talks. Where. are we at in terms of trying to find. some sort of hope for the future and all. of this ending?

>> Right. So there has been a flurry of. diplomatic activity and we know that. over the weekend we saw that uh Russian. delegation and a Ukrainian delegation. and a European delegation had all met. individually with the Americans in. Florida. And we're now starting to hear. a little bit more of what those [music]. uh negotiations look like. Um, you know, President Sullinsky characterized it as, you know, discussions that are getting. somewhere that we could see some real.

peace. But if you look at the way the. Russian media has been reporting on the. Kremlin's comments, they've really been. saying that, look, we're not really. close to a deal here. There's no major. breakthrough. Uh and of course remember. that yes they had this 20point plan that. was you know leaked by um that was. leaked that was agreed upon or rather. discussed between the Russians and the. Americans and there was a lot of. consternation because it really felt.

like this was a deal that was looking to. favor Russia much more and as we know. with any kind of negotiation with any. kind of peace deal um you know you try. and agree upon some of the easier issues. first before you get to the thorniest. ones. And so on the one hand, Ukraine. got security guarantees that it. definitely needed from the United. States. But on the other hand, there has. been no real talk or agreement when it. comes to land. And we know that Russia.

has made it clear that it is still. interested in taking large swaths of. Ukraine. And that is something that is. just unpalatable for Ukrainians. And Samira, just to finish off, we're. hearing all the time from diplomats and. politicians, but let's get a sense of. what the people are saying, the people. that you're speaking to. What are their. hopes for peace? What are their hopes. and thoughts when it comes to this war. ending and and when they think this will.

happen? >> You know, there is still hope. There is. hope for this war to end, but there's. also quite a bit of skepticism. You. know, some people that I've spoken to. have said, "Yes, these security. guarantees are great, but you know, we've had these security guarantees. before." And look at where we are now. You know, others are are a lot more. hardline, saying that there can't be any. peace as long as Russia is around. Whereas some others have even sort of. accepted that we might that Ukrainians.

might have to give up some land in order. for there to be some kind of peace. We're getting up to almost four years of. war. It is a difficult time for so many. and people have become quite weary and. so there is a definite want and a. definite hope for peace. What exactly. that will look like I think is really. what people are wondering. >> Samira, thank you so much for your time. Samir Hussein, our correspondent in Kev. If you would like to get more on this.

story, do check out our global news. podcast. You can find that wherever you. download your podcast from. Also, do. give this episode a like and do. subscribe to our BBC News YouTube. channel. And if there are any other. stories you'd like us to cover, please. do tell us by dropping a comment below. For now, thanks so much for your company. and have a happy holiday.