Saldo: Ukraine’s gangster governor – part 1 – podcast

This week marks the second anniversary of the war in Ukraine, a week in which you’ll hear stories of heroism and sacrifice. This is not one of them. This is the story of Vladimir Saldo, a former mayor of Kherson city, now the man tasked with overseeing Russia’s occupation in eastern Ukraine.

Over the next three days, the investigations correspondent Tom Burgis and the Today in Focus host Michael Safi will tell a story of something people prefer not to think about: that in war, there are heroes – the people who fight back against the enemy – and there are others: collaborators. Those Ukrainians who, when Russia invaded, didn’t just see fear, chaos and violence – they saw an opportunity.