Rádio Comercial Ukraine Audio Contents: An Inclusion Channel to Welcome and Support War Refugees in Portugal

In the early hours of February 24th, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, sparking war and a massive refugee crisis. Many Ukrainians fled to neighbouring and distant European countries, including Portugal. During conflicts, radio always assumed a fundamental role either as an instrument for propaganda, or as a vehicle of information, dissemination, and humanitarian support. With Ukrainian radios struggling, stations from other countries began to mobilize as replacing news polls. The Portuguese web radio Comercial Ukraine was an example of solidarity and community collaboration. Launched on March 16th, 2022, its mission was twofold: providing news, interviews, and Ukrainian/Portuguese music while connecting refugees with aid organizations like the Jesuit Refugee Service and the Ukrainian Association. Beyond online streaming, it offered in its beginning months, four thematic “podcasts” covering Portuguese lessons (nine), legal advice (10), psychological support (14), and interviews with professionals assisting refugees. Guests (59) included Ukrainian artists, media figures, and companies offering job opportunities. This study used a qualitative approach, combining content analysis, non-participation observation of two live morning programmes, from which the contents were taken for the podcast format, and four semi-structured interviews to examine how Rádio Comercial Ukraine supported the inclusion of Ukrainian war refugees in Portugal. Online audio episodes published from March to June 2022, focusing on refugee integration, were analysed. The interviews were conducted with key figures, including Media Capital Radio’s CEO, Salvador Ribeiro, Rádio Comercial’s news director (and Rádio Comercial Ukraine’s editor) Nuno Castilho de Matos, and the two podcast hosts: Marcos Fernandes and Viktoriya Starchenko.