Natalia’s Story: Learning to Walk Again

A family of amputees learn to walk again.

We talk to Natalia Stepanenko, who was badly injured in the Kramatorsk railway attack last year. Both her and her 12 year old daughter Yana lost legs, while Natalia’s husband died in a separate attack soon after. After receiving treatment in California the family are back in Ukraine, trying to re-build their lives.

The BBC’s Orla Guerin explains what medical provisions exist for tens of thousands of Ukrainian amputees and tells us about the diplomatic spat between Ukraine and Poland.

And we get the latest on a missile attack which hit the HQ of Russia's Black Sea navy in Crimea.

Today’s episode is presented by Lucy Hockings and Vitaly Shevchenko.

Translation was provided by Irena Taranyuk. The producers were Arsenii Sokolov, Alix Pickles and Ivana Davidovic. The technical producer was Dafydd Evans. The series producer is Tim Walklate. 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 1239480

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TOPICS:

00:05 - Amputee mother preview 02:05 - Crimea navy base attack 05:18 - Amputee mother 17:21 - Ukraine’s army of amputees 24:10 - News fatigue