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The Russians who spied for Ukraine
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16 September 2025
41 minutes
Available for over a year
Shortly after Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014, Sergei and Tatyana Voronkov decided they would leave Russia. The couple, who had long been critical of Vladimir Putin, settled into life in the Ukrainian countryside. Walking their dogs, tending their smallholding, and enjoying the rural isolation. But when the Russian military rolled in, they felt they had to do something. They passed information on military manoeuvres to Ukrainian authorities. Sergei was caught, forced to confess, but then released. At which point began the next part of their adventure as they fled Ukraine via Russia, before eventually applying - with the help of the Ukrainian military- for asylum in Lithuania.
Presenter: Asya Fouks
Producer: Julian Siddle
Get in touch: [email protected] or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707
(Photo: Tank drives by civilians near Avdiivka frontline, Ukraine 20 February 2024. Credit: Narciso Contreras / Anadolu via Getty Images)