Ukraine: The Latest

Day 1,628.Today, as President Zelensky warns that as many as 50,000 North Korean troops could be preparing to deploy to Russia, we examine what a renewed role for Pyongyang could mean for the war in Ukraine. We also report on Ukraine’s latest strikes against Wildberries, after one of the Russian e-commerce giant’s largest warehouses was set ablaze overnight, as Kyiv continues targeting the logistics infrastructure sustaining Moscow’s war machine. Then we turn to politics inside Russia, where a top Moscow court has barred an opposition anti-war party from standing in September’s elections, offering another glimpse...

Day 1,627.Today, after a weekend that may have seen a record number of drones launched across Ukraine and Russia, we examine what it is actually like to endure a ballistic missile attack – and how different that experience is from a drone barrage. Then, as Kyiv and other cities come under constant bombardment from weapons Ukrainian air defences cannot reliably intercept, we assess the arguments made by some that Ukraine’s increasingly ambitious strikes inside Russia could give Vladimir Putin the pretext he needs to mobilise hundreds of thousands more men. We also answer your questions about what Kyiv...

Day 1,624.Today, as Kyiv is in mourning following Wednesday's attack, President Donald Trump continues to backtrack on the promised Patriot blueprints. Ukraine hits another Wildberry warehouse overnight, which brings the number of hits to at least 20 since the beginning of the operation, and we reflect on the 40-day strike campaign – has it brought the war closer to an end? Meanwhile, President Zelensky performs a balancing act, meeting with two countries historically close to Russia. Finally, we discuss Ukraine’s effort to prosecute the war in real time, with a groundbreaking trial on Russia’s human safari....

Day 1,623.Today, after an extraordinary drone attack in Germany raises fresh questions about Russia’s campaign against the West, we ask whether it is finally time to stop describing Moscow’s actions as “hybrid”, “grey zone” or “sub-threshold” warfare – and instead call them what they are. We also report on Russia’s worsening fuel crisis, with queues once again forming outside petrol stations following Ukraine’s latest drone strike on Yaroslavl oil refinery. In Kyiv, Britain’s new Defence Secretary reaffirms UK support, declaring, “We’re with Ukraine until they win,” as we assess what the change in leadership could mean for m...

Day 1,622.Today, Kyiv reels from the deadliest attack this year after failing to intercept any Russian missiles overnight, as North Korea continues to support Russia’s war, providing 120 ballistic missiles and six launchers. Meanwhile, Ukraine carries out air strikes on another Wildberries warehouse and several industrial sites, including an oil refinery. Then, we keep an eye on Kyiv and Washington’s warming relationship in recent weeks and discuss whether Ukraine could decide Italy’s next election. Finally, examine the lives of war widows as Russian losses mount, and Francis speaks to the World Health Organization’s representative in Ukrai...

Day 1,621.Putin finds himself in a sticky situation this morning after two more Wildberry distribution centres are attacked. There is also more evidence of Russia’s drone safari against civilians after a market vendor in Kherson was seen being hunted by a drone. We look at the latest diplomatic developments, which have seen Kyiv’s ambassador to the US dismissed, and its ambassador to London Valery Zaluzhny say that Ukraine is unlikely ever to join NATO. And later, a frontline reporter tells us what life is like today in the embattled fortress cities of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Kost...

Day 1,620. Today, we report on another weekend of intense military activity: from renewed strikes on Wildberries warehouses – so severe that the company's owner and CEO Tatyana Kim was compelled to issue a public statement – to assassination attempts and a bombing at a Moscow restaurant. Plus, drone strikes on Russian positions in Crimea and a brutal attack on Kyiv that reveals the city's vulnerability to ballistic missile strikes. Dom and Francis also examine the latest casualty figures claimed by President Zelensky, the evolving US position on Ukraine, and what the new adaptation of The Odyssey might be trying to sa...

Day 1,617.As yet more Russian Wildberries distribution sites reach for the stars, Ukrainian missile producer Firepoint wins the month’s top-trolling award by offering merch to anyone who correctly predicts their next target. Dom reports how ballistic-missile defence is the hot topic of military and diplomatic discussion at the moment, with offers from Poland, favours asked of SpaceX and, perhaps least surprising of all, a growing coolness from Donald Trump over the plan/idea/wishful thinking that Ukraine would be given the Patriot blueprints. Alex Nichol reports that Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff may be in Ukraine in...

Day 1,616.A Russian cruise missile is believed to have landed in Poland overnight, just after President Zelensky and Polish prime minister Donald Tusk met to patch up a rumbling diplomatic spat. Meanwhile, inside Ukraine, former Minister of Defence Fedorov gives his first big interview since being sacked, saying there is 'resistance to change' in the defence ministry and laying out his vision to win the war. Finally, Dom, Adelie, and Francis read your best summer postcards and answer your questions.Contributors:Adelie Pojzman-Pontay (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @Adeliepjz on X.<...

Day 1,615.After Russia sees another night of Ukrainian drone strikes on a Wildberries warehouse and oil refinery attacks, Francis examines Kyiv’s campaign to disrupt Putin’s logistics and wartime economy. He also looks at encouraging developments in Washington, where Presidents Zelensky and Trump met ahead of the funeral of Senator Lindsey Graham, before Graham’s landmark bipartisan sanctions bill took a significant step forward in Congress. Then James Kilner has his regular Russia roundup, as rumours of a fresh mobilisation continue to circulate, before we explore the dramatic downfall of the powerful head of Russia’s internat...

Day 1,614.As Ukraine strikes a target more than 1,300 kilometres from Kyiv, Francis and Alex Nichol assess the significance of President Zelensky’s visit to Washington for Lindsey Graham’s funeral and to meet with President Trump. It comes a day after Ukraine struck a tanker from Iran in the Caspian Sea, something the US president was asked about on Air Force One. Meanwhile, attention is focused on Congress as lawmakers prepare to decide the fate of the bipartisan sanctions bill, which would impose sweeping tariffs on countries continuing to buy Russian energy. Later, we take a deep dive...

Day 1,613.As Putin is forced to cancel his annual Navy Day parade in St. Petersburg for the second year in a row – forced to stand by an image of a submarine instead – we report on another major weekend on the battlefield for both Russia and Ukraine, including a strike by Kyiv on an Iranian-linked tanker in the Caspian Sea. Meanwhile Volodymyr Zelensky is in London to meet with new British PM Andy Burnham for the first time, as the Ukrainian president warns of a new mobilisation drive by Moscow amid mounting Russian losses. Then we hear from the...

Day 1,610.Today, as Ukraine expands its long-range strike campaign with fresh attacks on Russian logistics hubs and warehouses – including targets in St Petersburg – we examine the growing economic cost to Moscow as Kyiv intensifies its effort to disrupt supply chains and undermine Russia’s war machine. We also explore why American political commentator and Donald Trump ally Laura Loomer has dramatically reversed her position on Ukraine after years of amplifying pro-Kremlin narratives, and what that shift could signal for Republican support for Kyiv. And later, Dom brings you an exclusive interview with Ukraine’s new Veterans Minister, recorded...

Day 1,609.Today, after Mykhailo Drapatyi is appointed Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, we examine the reaction from Russian soldiers and military commentators as Kyiv reshapes its wartime leadership. We also report on Ukraine’s continuing campaign of long-range strikes, with fresh attacks on a key Russian logistics hub and another strategically important oil refinery as Kyiv seeks to weaken Moscow’s war machine far behind the front lines. Then we assess how Russia’s war against Ukraine is reshaping global grain exports and food prices, before unpacking the European Union’s latest sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s regime, fi...

Day 1,608.Today, in another historic day for the war, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi is replaced with one of the most famous generals in Ukraine: Mykhailo Drapatyi, a popular and innovative military leader with a remarkable backstory. We bring together a frontline Ukrainian drone pilot and two leading experts to hear what really happened in the past 72 hours, what this means for the conflict, and the likely strategy Kyiv will adopt as the war enters the next phase.Contributors:Francis Dearnley (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @FrancisDearnley on X.Dr Jade...

Day 1,607.Today, as Ukraine strikes a plant belonging to Russia’s largest steel producer, we assess Moscow’s increasing use of ballistic missiles as the fighting on the frontline heads towards Russia’s bloodiest month in a year and a half. We also report on the man expected to replace Kyiv’s Commander-in-Chief, before a special interview with one of the founding members of Pussy Riot about the group’s origins and the protest performance that led to members being sent to a Russian penal colony.Contributors:Francis Dearnley (Host on Ukraine: The Latest...

Day 1,606.Today, after one of its biggest ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv of the war, we hear about Ukraine’s strikes on warehouses belonging to Russia’s equivalent to Amazon, costing millions in damages and a 2000 square mile cloud that can be seen from space. Then we consider the rumours that Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi may be next for the chop as protests continue over President Zelensky’s removal of Defence Minister Fedorov. And, with our guest, we try to answer a key question: now President Trump has promised to share the blueprints for Patriot missiles with Kyiv, how long w...

Day 1,603. Today, as Ukraine reels from the dismissal of its popular Defence Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, we examine the speculation surrounding his sudden departure, and reveal details of his new successor. We also bring you the latest on Ukraine’s extraordinary campaign in the naval theatre, where more than 100 Russian vessels have been struck in little over a week, before our regular segment on the occupied territories. Finally, with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer – one of Ukraine’s strongest international supporters – leaving office on Monday, we assess what his successor, Andy Burnham, will mean for the war....

Day 1,602.Following President Zelensky’s seismic sacking of 35-year-old Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov – a popular, dynamic moderniser in the government – we bring you the reaction on the streets of Kyiv, where protests have broken out. Reports suggest it was irreconcilable differences with commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi that ultimately got Fedorov dismissed – but also that his personal political ambitions had Zelensky worried. Is this the president’s biggest political miscalculation since his move against the country’s anti-corruption bodies in 2025? Then, we have the latest Ukrainian strikes on Russian ships in the Black Sea. Finally Adelie learns about the remarkably b...

Day 1,601.As Ukraine expands its campaign in the Black Sea, tightening Kyiv’s stranglehold on occupied Crimea, Dom reports on the fifth consecutive day of combined missile and drone attacks on the southern Odesa region, as civilians continue to bear the brunt of the bombardment. Then Francis turned to the latest political developments shaping the war, including fresh manoeuvring in Hungary. And later, they are joined by Adelie to answer your questions on the Kerch bridge, the impact of fuel shortages for the Russian harvest, and European preparedness for the kind of aerial bombardments Ukraine suffers daily....