my guest today is the ukrainian raised, internationally renowned historian serhii plokhy.hat's the best response to this weaponization of history? serhii plokhy, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me. you are a harvard historian. you've lived in the united states for a long time, and yet you were raised inside ukraine. so is it possible for you to bring a dispassionate historian�*s eye to what is happening in ukraine right now? or is it far too personal? that's what i am trying to do — to bring this dispassionate analysis and help understanding of what is going on from the historical perspective. but it's extremely close to home — in personal terms, and in terms also of the kind of history that i study, and studied and wrote about. never i thought that it would be at the very centre of the major international crisis, the biggest and the most horrible war that we have in europe since the end of second world war. and you have written a highly respected book about the history of ukraine. you've also written about the fall of the soviet union. your own personal history

serhii plokhy, thank you very much indeed. thank you. it was a pleasure. hello.ers and thunderstorms, umbrellas at the ready for wednesday. the showers probably not as widespread, but there will still be some heavy ones around, with warmer sunny spells in between. low pressure�*s still close by. high pressure�*s trying to build in, and although that may be in time for the platinum jubilee weekend, there are some complications, as we'll see in a moment. this is how we start off wednesday morning, low single figures in the chilliest, clearest spots. an area of rain pulling out of wales, into the midlands, and then just turning into another batch of showers as it bears down on south—eastern areas. now, many other places will start the day dry with sunny spells. cloud's going to build, scattered and at times heavy showers break out through central, southern parts of scotland, northern, central and eastern areas of england in particular, maybe with a rumble of thunder. not many showers at all for northern ireland, northern scotland and for wales and the south—west, be