Broadcaster and writer Stephen Fry has travelled to Ukraine to see how war is impacting the country’s mental health. He joins Lyse and Vitaly in the studio to discuss his new documentary ‘Stephen Fry into Ukraine’, in which he speaks to those affected and asks whether there is sufficient government support. He also reflects on his own struggles with mental health and why Ukraine matters to him. ‘Stephen Fry into Ukraine’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FO6ZJL26eM If you have been affected by any of the issues discussed in this episode you can visit BBC Action Line on www.bbc.co.uk/actionline Today’s episode is presented by Lyse Doucet and Vitaly Shevchenko. The producers were Arsenii Sokolov, Cordelia Hemming, Hatty Nash and Ivana Davidovic. The technical producers were Mike Regaard and Rohan Madison. The series producer is Tim Walklate. The senior news editor is Richard Fenton-Smith. Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram to +44 330 1239480 You can join the Ukrainecast discussion on Newscast’s Discord server here: tinyurl.com/ukrainecastdiscord
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.
Dineshans, Tetris Holding.
BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts.
It's 912 days since Russia began its full scale invasion of Ukraine.
Today we're speaking with the actor, writer and broadcaster, Stephen Fry.
Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you too, Stephen Fry.
And Lisa, very nice to you.
What an honor to meet you.
And you.
Stephen is a prominent mental health awareness campaigner and he co hosted a conference in Ukraine on mental health in a time of war last year and now has a documentary out about this subject.
It became so apparent that what was being fought for was much more than territory, or if it was a territory, it was a territory of the mind and the spirit of a freedom and an openness and a desire to be able to talk openly.
And talking about mental health is a very, very healthy, ironically, sign of that openness.
Really remarkable, Vitaly, to see in the documentary, Stephen Fry going to Ukraine.
And he makes it clear he doesn't normally go to war zones, but this issue of mental health is so important to him that he.
He accepted the invitation to go and be part of a conference on mental health.
And I never knew just how well known Stephen Fry is in Ukraine.
He's huge.
He's a proper celebrity there.
People listen to what he does and listen to him and his thoughts on mental health.