Ukraine: The Latest

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 WELT offices in Germany about their wargame that caused such a stir, NATO’s Secretary General had to respond.

Contributors:
Francis Dearnley (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @FrancisDearnley on X.
James Rothwell (Berlin Correspondent). @JamesERothwell on X.
With thanks to Caroline Drüten, international security correspondent at WELT.

Senior Producer: Lilian Fawcett
Video Producer: Sophie O’Sullivan
Social Producer: Tom Steed
Studio Director: Meghan Searle
Executive Editor: Francis Dearnley
Created by David Knowles

NOW IN FULL VIDEO WITH MAPS & BATTLEFIELD FOOTAGE:
‘Ernstfall: What if Russia Attacks NATO? Inside a German Wargame’ (WELT Podcast):
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ernstfall-what-if-russia-attacks-nato-inside-a/id6785429115
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033GHuBrh6zwl1mq4TVeY6

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/07/21/new-missile-at-centre-of-anglo-german-golden-age-of-defence/

Fabrice Deprez’s Substack describing Kramatorsk:
https://eastradar.substack.com/p/the-long-war-60?triedRedirect=true

Kazakhstan’s Tokayev Urges Putin to Freeze Ukraine War (Kyiv Post)
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/81070

Kremlin Shrugs Off Reports of US-Ukraine Air Truce Plan, Says It’s ‘Too Early’ (Kyiv Post)
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/81124

EMAIL US:
Contact the team on ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk. We continue to read every message, and seek to respond to as many as possible.

HIGHLIGHTS:

‘Humiliated’ Putin poses with fake submarine after navy parade cancelled
Ukraine strikes Iranian tanker in Caspian Sea

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 during a visit to Mykolaiv earlier this year.

Contributors:
Adelie Pojzman-Pontay (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @Adeliepjz on X.
Alex Nichol (Telegraph Journalist).
Dominic Nicholls (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @DomNicholls on X.
With thanks to Vitali Kim, the new Veteran Affairs Minister of Ukraine, former frontline mayor of Mykolaiv.

Producer: Rachel Porter
Senior Producer: Lilian Fawcett
Video Producer: James England
Social Producer: Tom Steed
Studio Director: Meghan Searle
Executive Editor: Francis Dearnley
Created by David Knowles

NOW IN FULL VIDEO WITH MAPS & BATTLEFIELD FOOTAGE:
Every episode is now available on our YouTube channel shortly after the release of the audio version. You will find it here: https://www.youtube.com/@UkraineTheLatest

CONTENT REFERENCED:
Why Russia’s Amazon became Ukraine’s number one target (The Telegraph)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/07/24/why-russias-amazon-became-ukraines-number-one-target/

Inside Ukraine’s Kill Zone (Reuters):
https://www.reuters.com/graphics/UKRAINE-CRISIS/KILL-ZONE/znpnojmknvl/

EMAIL US:
Contact the team on ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk. We continue to read every message, and seek to respond to as many as possible.

HIGHLIGHTS:
St Petersburg burns as new ‘number one target’ revealed
Dom tours a frontline city with its mayor

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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, finally agreed after weeks of difficult negotiations.

Contributors:
Adelie Pojzman-Pontay (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @Adeliepjz on X.
Alex Nichol (Telegraph Journalist).

Producer: Phil Atkins
Senior Producer: Lilian Fawcett
Video Producer: Sophie O’Sullivan
Social Producer: Tom Steed
Studio Director: Meghan Searle
Executive Editor: Francis Dearnley
Created by David Knowles

NOW IN FULL VIDEO WITH MAPS & BATTLEFIELD FOOTAGE:
Every episode is now available on our YouTube channel shortly after the release of the audio version. You will find it here: https://www.youtube.com/@UkraineTheLatest

CONTENT REFERENCED:

Yesterday’s Ukraine: The Latest, offering a deep dive into Kyiv’s new commander-in-chief:
YouTube – https://youtu.be/xqBiyMPM4jo?si=p1rlhUOodgg781ck
Apple – https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ukraines-legendary-new-commander-takes-charge-after/id1612424182?i=1000777916224
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/episode/3CktsLADyTxmHVesqf6RxW?si=abe2835da3fc4782

Kremlin propagandist Xenia Fedorova escapes EU sanctions targeting Russian figures (Le Monde):
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2026/07/22/kremlin-propagandist-xenia-fedorova-escapes-eu-sanctions-targeting-russian-figures_6755722_4.html?srsltid=AfmBOopfQv9I8HMURwgR6Hkc7GNY7nqJuYDoS-YXXq1t3JMx29P71kMx

From the Shannon to Siberia: How alumina from a Limerick refinery enters Russia’s weapons supply chain (The Irish Times)
https://www.irishtimes.com/world/europe/2026/03/24/from-the-shannon-to-siberia-how-alumina-from-a-limerick-refinery-enters-russias-weapons-supply-chain/

For more on Caolan Robertson’s investigation into the Auginish aluminium plant, Ukraine: The Latest June 16th episode:
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mimSeae4Nw&t=1492s
Apple podcast – https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/trump-tells-putin-to-make-a-deal-at-g7-revenge/id1612424182?i=1000772992491
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/episode/2XXCl4A8oZ871GwjvdXowY

EMAIL US:
Contact the team on ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk. We continue to read every message, and seek to respond to as many as possible.

HIGHLIGHTS:

The European Union’s 21st sanction package
Interview with Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 McGlynn (Centre for Statecraft and National Security, King's College London)

Special thanks to Dr Jack Watling – Senior Research Fellow for Applied Military Sciences at the Royal United Services Institute – and Dimko Zhluktenko, best known as a drone pilot in the 413th Regiment of the Unmanned Systems Forces.

Producer: Alexis Adimora
Senior Producer: Lilian Fawcett
Video Producer: Sophie O’Sullivan
Social Producer: Tom Steed
Studio Director: Meghan Searle
Executive Editor: Francis Dearnley
Created by David Knowles

NOW IN FULL VIDEO WITH MAPS & BATTLEFIELD FOOTAGE:
Every episode is now available on our YouTube channel shortly after the release of the audio version. You will find it here: https://www.youtube.com/@UkraineTheLatest

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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). @FrancisDearnley on X.
With thanks to Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot.

Producer: Phil Atkins
Senior Producer: Lilian Fawcett
Video Producer: Sophie O’Sullivan
Social Producer: Tom Steed
Studio Director: Meghan Searle
Executive Editor: Francis Dearnley
Created by David Knowles

NOW IN FULL VIDEO WITH MAPS & BATTLEFIELD FOOTAGE:
Every episode is now available on our YouTube channel shortly after the release of the audio version. You will find it here: https://www.youtube.com/@UkraineTheLatest

CONTENT REFERENCED:
The Pavilion of dis(Sense) – conceived and curated by the Russian dissident artist Katia Margolis – is in the former Church of San Leonardo, Venice, until August 7. Learn more: https://www.instagram.com/pavilionofdissense/

Francis’s Dispatches from La Biennale in Venice –
Part I: https://youtu.be/ay2UT-SeKDI?si=HcbI6rpImmWdnEIM&t=559
Part II (featuring the first section of Francis’s interview with Nadya of Pussy Riot): https://youtu.be/KVCZ9mVVFNI?si=zpNovKCPKyoDJdbU&t=829

Nadja’s Strasbourg exhibition, ‘Resistance Imprisoned’:
https://www.ritschfisch.com/exhibition/resistance-imprisoned/

Russian warship opens fire off Devon (The Telegraph):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/07/21/russian-warship-neustrashimy-fires-plymouth-royal-navy/

White House concerned over Miliband as Foreign Secretary (The Telegraph):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/07/21/white-house-deeply-concerned-miliband-foreign-secretary/

Mykhailo Drapatyi, the man some protesters want to replace Syrskyi (Kyiv Independent):
https://kyivindependent.com/mykhailo-drapatyi-the-man-some-protesters-want-to-replace-syrskyi/

Zelensky’s crisis deepens as ex-defence minister rejects offer to return (Financial Times):
https://www.ft.com/content/51dad580-487a-43d4-8427-cdd764cbe8f5?syn-25a6b1a6=1

EMAIL US:
Contact the team on ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk. We continue to read every message, and seek to respond to as many as possible.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Russia faces bloodiest month for a year and half
Interview with Pussy Riot founder Nadya Tolokonnikova

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.