Home  >  Fifth Floor  >  Mariupol: City at the heart of war
Fifth Floor
Mariupol: City at the heart of war
Fifth Floor
May 13, 2022

The Ukrainian port city of Mariupol has been under attack by the Russians since the first day of the invasion on 24 February. It now lies in ruins, but still Ukrainian fighters are resisting in the Azovstal steelworks. Vitaliy Shevchenko, Russia editor of BBC Monitoring, tells us about the complex history and identity of Mariupol.

Reporting Sri Lanka It’s been a week of violent unrest in Sri Lanka, where peaceful protests in the capital turned into riots on Monday after the resignation of prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. For two members of the BBC Sinhala team, it’s a doubly difficult story, having moved from Colombo to Delhi. Editor Ishara Danasekara and her colleague Amanda Abeysooriya tell us about the challenges of reporting from a distance.

South Korea's hijabi influencer Sabrina is a young hijab-wearing Malaysian Muslim who loves to dance to K-pop. When she moved to South Korea, she opened a YouTube channel and became a popular influencer. However, not all responses have been positive, as BBC Korean’s Bugyeong Jung found out.

My Childhood, My Country A remarkable documentary which follows the life of a young Afghan from the age of 7 to 27 has just won a BAFTA award for Shoaib Sharifi, who runs the Kabul office of the BBC’s international charity, BBC Media Action. It’s called My Childhood, My Country, and Shoaib tells us how he first met its star, Mir Hussain, then recorded his life from child to adult.

Presenter: Faranak Amidi Producer: Sue Waldram

(Photo: Theatre building destroyed in the Ukraine-Russia conflict in Mariupol, April 25, 2022. Credit: Reuters/Alexander Ermochenko)

More Episodes


Mar 29, 2024
From prison to president

After an election held just days after his release from prison, Bassirou Diomaye Faye is set to become Senegal's next president, and at 44, the youngest in the country’s history. From Dakar, the BBC's Khadidiatou Cissé and Thomas Naadi tell us more about the new Senegalese leader.

Banksy's new neighbour BBC Mundo's Carlos Serrano shares his experience of finding himself at the centre of a big news story, after a Banksy mural was painted outside his apartment.

Kashmiri carpet weavers In Indian-administered Kashmir, an ancient code called 'talim' was traditionally used to pass on complex patterns to carpet weavers. BBC India's Priti Gupta reports on how computers and AI are changing this, and the impact on the traditional carpet industry.

Brazil’s forest-friendly rubber tappers The growing interest in sustainable ways of exploiting the Amazon rainforest has created new opportunities for Brazil's traditional rubber tappers, who can get enhanced payments for preserving the areas where they work. Julia Carneiro reported for BBC Brasil on how the scheme works.

The Big Korean Dictionary The Korean language has been diverging between North and South Korea since the peninsula was divided. To keep track of the changes, an inter-Korean dictionary project was set up in 2005, with linguists from both sides. But worsening relations mean the project was suspended in 2015, as BBC Korean's Seonwook Lee reports.

Come with us! The Fifth Floor is moving and we would love it if you can join us. You can now find all our episodes on The Documentary, the home of original, global storytelling, from the BBC World Service. Search for The Documentary, wherever you found this podcast, and don’t forget to subscribe or follow.

(Photo: Bassirou Diomaye Faye. Credit: Getty)


40min 56sec

Mar 22, 2024
Women's radio in Afghanistan

As a new school year starts in Afghanistan, 330,000 more girls will be excluded from secondary education, one of the ways in which women and girls are increasingly confined to their homes under the Taliban regime. In light of this, BBC Media Action is running the Women’s Voice radio project, training women to make programmes for other women on vital topics like health, work and education. Getti Sediqi is one of the trainers in Kabul.

Isabel, the giant armadillo The giant armadillo, found only in Latin America, has been called a "ghost species" because it's so rarely seen. But thanks to one particular armadillo in Brazil, called Isabel by researchers, many discoveries have now been made, as BBC Brasil’s Giulia Granchi reports.

Haji Firouz: Nowruz controversy in Iran Iran traditionally heralds its New Year with a festive figure known as Haji Firouz. The jester-like character sings and dances through the streets but has become controversial because performers blacken their faces and hands, a practice many find highly offensive. Now the character is being used as a form of protest to highlight the ongoing struggle for women's rights in Iran, as BBC Monitoring's Sarbas Nazari explains.

No bidders for Aung San Suu Kyi's iconic house A failed attempt was made this week to auction the lakeside home of the detained Burmese leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. A court had ordered its sale after a long drawn-out legal battle between Suu Kyi and her brother Aung San Oo. BBC Burmese editor Soe Win Than explains the significance of this house, and the possible reasons why no bidders showed up.

The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia's money glitch Ethiopia's largest commercial bank is trying to recoup millions of dollars' worth of currency after a 'system problem' allowed customers to withdraw unlimited funds. It's been reported that a large portion of the cash was withdrawn by students as news of the banking glitch spread around universities. Kaleb Moges tells us about developments.

(Photo: Nadia Shekib, journalist, producer and news editor at Radio TV Oboor. Credit: BBC Media Action)


41min 01sec

Mariupol: City at the heart of war

--:--
--:--