this is bbc news. we ll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, as newsday continues straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. ukraine sees itself locked in an existential struggle against russian aggression. already, the conflict has lasted 1.5 years almost a decade, if you trace it back to moscow s first military moves in crimea and the donbas. what has the fight and the human cost of it done to ukraine, to the spirit, the morale of the people? well, my guest is andriy khlyvnyuk, a ukrainian rock star turned armed defender. as ukraine becomes a militarised society, what has happened to its culture? andriy khlyvnyuk, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me here. good day, sir.
and morale is only one. the only task of a normal defence part, as a soldier, is to defend women and kids no matter what nations they are of. but andriy, it s easy for me to say because i m not where you are, i m in london. but, looking from the outside, putin appears to be determined to fight this war as long as it takes for him to achieve what he would call a victory. russia has the scale, the size, the men, the weaponry that ukraine cannot match in pure numbers. mmm hmm. if we all agree this guy is a war criminal, then we have to take him dead or alive. and that s going to be the end of this war. it s easy. well, we have to end there. chuckles. but andriy khlyvnyuk, it s great to see you in london. thank you, sir, thank
it s a pleasure to have you here. andriy khlyvnyuk, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me here. good day, sir. it s a pleasure to have you here. i m very mindful that you ve just made a pretty extraordinary journey, serving on the front line in ukraine with the security forces just a couple of days ago, and then, a long journey to here in london. in a couple of days, you will be making music in front of tens of thousands of people at chelsea football stadium. all of that sounds kind of surreal. does it feel that way to you?
From nights at the opera to the nation’s best-loved bands, music is playing a vital role in resistance to the Russian invasion – many musicians have actually gone to the frontline