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Ukraine and the battle for the Donbas

Reports from the frontline in Ukraine as Russia makes advances. In the US; what’s been happening at Alligator Alcatraz, the immigration detention centre?

Reports from the frontline in Ukraine and Alligator Alcatraz, the US immigration detention centre.

Ukraine has this week come under its heaviest bombardment in weeks, with the UK and the EU summoning their Russian envoys after their offices in Kyiv were hit. Quentin Somerville has been in Donetsk, the area Vladimir Putin wants to fully control in the resource rich region of the Donbas, as residents flee attacks and soldiers tell of the intensification of the battle there.

In the US, a record number of people are being held in immigrant detention, following President Trump’s crackdown. One controversial site has become the subject of several lawsuits: Alligator Alcatraz in Florida. A judge recently ordered the temporary closure of the centre while she hears evidence on its environmental impact. The ruling has been appealed but the department of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½land Security has confirmed it has started moving detainees out. Josephine Casserly reports from the centre, which sits on an abandoned airstrip amid the marshes, mangroves and wildlife of the Everglades.

Finland is marking 80 years since the creation of the Moomins. The hippo-like troll cartoon characters were a huge export for decades, featured in newspaper comic strips around the world and then a popular TV cartoon show. Heidi Fuller Love reports on how living through World War two influenced their creator, Tove Jansson.

Presenter: Pascale Harter
Producer: Phoebe Keane
Production Coordinator: Rosie Strawbridge
Editor: Richard Vadon

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23 minutes

Last on

Mon 1 Sep 2025 19:06GMT

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