Boris Johnson and Sir Tony Radakin: Ukrainians are heroes

“After four years of war, Putin, who supposedly possessed the second-most powerful military on earth, has only been able to take less than 20% of Ukrainian land. And yes, Zelensky has done an extraordinary job of marshalling his country and galvanising Western support... But the heroes are the people of Ukraine.”

Laura Kuenssberg speaks to former British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and former head of the British Armed Forces, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, about the war in Ukraine.

Johnson was in Downing Street four years ago, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began.

As one of the driving forces behind the West’s initial response, he’s been critical of the slowness of allies in providing support to President Zelensky, which Johnson says has cost lives.

The two men believe the conflict could have been prevented altogether if Western allies had paid more attention to Putin's increasing aggression and annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Thank you to the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg team for their help in making this programme. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with the Mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, Iranian author Azar Nafisi, and the President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presenter: Laura Kuenssberg Producers: Paul Twinn and Ben Cooper Editors: Diana Martin and Damon Rose

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(Image: Boris Johnson and Sir Tony Radakin Credit: Jeff Overs/BBC)