Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Find out how to listen to other BBC stations

Episode details

World Service,24 Dec 2024,26 mins

Was the Ursa Major part of Russia's so-called dark fleet?

World Business Report

Available for over a year

But questions have been asked whether the cargo vessel, which was under US sanctions, was heading for the Syrian coast, to recover military supplies left by Russian forces in Syria when Bashar al-Assad fell. A maritime security and sanctions expert talks to us about how Russia's commercial fleet operates under swingeing sanctions. Also, World Business Report looks back on a year of strikes by doctors from around the world. We hear from medics in Kenya, India and the UK to find out more about why they felt they had to withdraw their labour.

Programme Website
More episodes