Ukraine: The Latest

Day 1,668.
Today, Russia wakes up to two new hits on refineries as Volodymyr Zelensky is set to meet Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. The two leaders are expected to talk about a potential pause on energy strikes between Ukraine and Russia. Then we discuss the latest and largest sanctions package from the EU, currently at a stalemate, and the new spat between Hungary and Ukraine.

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

Producer: Rachel Porter
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:
Almost unbelievably, the US is planning to pull large numbers of troops out of Europe (Hamish de Bretton-Gordon for The Telegraph)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/09/21/us-troop-pullout-europe-putin-nato-war-ukraine/

Visits by foreign partners are indeed Kyiv’s fine air defense (INFOGRAPHIC)
https://texty.org.ua/articles/118329/visits-by-foreign-partners-are-indeed-kyivs-fine-air-defense-infographic/

Kremlin-backed forgery scheme moved $6.9bn through global banks (The Financial Times)
https://www.ft.com/content/3848a4ad-1426-4352-ba86-ef1279c4ffd1?syn-25a6b1a6=1

Adélie’s interview with Alexander Browder on how cryptocurrency is financing Russia’s war (from 27:08):
youtube.com/watch?v=r8TQnqmuUMI&feature=youtu.be

The Ukrainian Book Institute appeal to support Ukrainian publishers, following the summer strikes on book markets and warehouses:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Mn7HUU_nH3AnZn66zjrdv88Fr12lt1x_/view

Adélie’s interview with Hugh Roberts on translating and publishing Ukrainian War Poetry (from 13:07):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AXCoKZkXMI&feature=youtu.be

Hemingway Knows Nothing, Artur Dron’s latest book:
https://www.jantarpublishing.com/product-page/hemingway-knows-nothing

If you’re interested in sponsoring Dom’s upcoming defence event, email our colleagues at events@telegraph.co.uk

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:
Giant fireball after strike on Russian refinery
Zelensky and Trump set to discuss energy truce in New York
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Day 1,667.
Today, as Donald Trump says Russia has lost control of its ‘diesel oil industry’ after Moscow suffers the largest air raid in its history, early results from the Russian parliamentary elections show a not very shocking landslide for Putin’s United Russia party. Dom digests the numbers with Russia analyst James Kilner. Ukraine forces Russia to close its beaches and gives more detail about how it has brought surprise back to the battlefield, including by using air drones to drop ground drones behind enemy lines. Plus, there are reports Ukrainian troops have reentered Luhansk oblast, meaning Putin no longer has 100% control of any of the four oblasts he says he’s annexed.

Contributors:
Dominic Nicholls (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @DomNicholls on X.
James Kilner (Russia Analyst). @Jkjourno on X.

Producer: Rachel Porter
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:
Luxembourg launches investigation after drones temporarily suspend flight operations (Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/world/flights-resume-luxembourg-airport-after-temporary-shutdown-over-drone-activity-2026-09-19/

If you’re interested in sponsoring Dom’s upcoming defence event, email our colleagues at events@telegraph.co.uk

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.

Thumbnail image credit: @bayraktar_1love/X

HIGHLIGHTS:
Ukraine blitzes Moscow in largest ever drone attack
Putin’s United Russia party triumphs in sham election

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

Day 1,664.
Today, as Russians start to vote in parliamentary elections for which the only thing transparent is the voting booth, Canada considers taking associate membership of the EU. 50,000 North Korean soldiers could be training in Russia and Ukraine gets bored of finding new targets so hits the same Russian airbase for the second night running. Later, Dr Jade McGlynn of King’s College London on what we know so far about Russia’s so-called elections, as voting begins in a contest all but guaranteed to fall in favour of Vladimir Putin and his United Russia party.

Contributors:
Dominic Nicholls (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @DomNicholls on X.
Adelie Pojzman-Pontay (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @Adeliepjz on X.
Jade McGlynn (Research fellow, King’s College London). @DrJadeMcGlynn on X.

Producer: Rachel Porter
Senior Producer: Lilian Fawcett
Video Producer: Sophie O’Sullivan
Social Producer: Lucy Hadlow
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:
Putin will win Russia’s sham election. Europe is terrified of what comes next (Adrian Blomfield for the Telegraph)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/09/18/putin-will-win-sham-election-what-happens-next-terrifies-eu/

En Ukraine, les habitants des territoires occupés votent sous la menace aux élections législatives russes (Le Monde)
https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2026/09/18/en-ukraine-les-habitants-des-territoires-occupes-votent-sous-la-menace-aux-elections-legislatives-russes_6776706_3210.html

If you’re interested in sponsoring Dom’s upcoming defence event, email our colleagues at events@telegraph.co.uk

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 scrambles for manpower as it suffers 10,000 casualties in a week
Up to 50,000 North Korean soldiers to be trained in Russia
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Day 1,663.
Today, we hear reaction to the US Congress approving a bipartisan bill which could see significant sanctions against Russia enshrined into US law, with the potential of 100% tariffs against countries purchasing energy from Moscow. Then we bring you reports of airspace being closed over Poland, and the latest developments of the Ukrainian counteroffensive around Lyman. Later, Francis speaks to one of the UN team documenting Russian forces’ appalling sexual violence against Ukrainians, and leading the push for accountability for these war crimes.

Contributors:
Francis Dearnley (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @FrancisDearnley on X.
Sophie O’Sullivan (Telegraph Journalist).

With thanks to Commissioner Vrinda Grover of the UN’s Ukraine Commission of Inquiry.

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 Graham sanctions act is a chance to punish Putin. Here’s what the White House should do next. (Daniel Fried for the Atlantic Council)
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/dispatches/the-graham-sanctions-act-is-a-chance-to-punish-putin-heres-what-the-white-house-should-do-next/

Russians Prepare to Vote in Parliamentary Elections With Little Hope for Change (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/europe/100000011153874/russia-parliamentary-elections.html

Summary factsheet of UN Ukraine Inquiry’s main findings on sexual violence:
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/coiukraine/iicoiu-sgbv-may2026-en.pdf

Call for submissions by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine:
https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/iicihr-ukraine/call-for-submission

Papers featuring testimony of sexual violence in war:
August ‘23 – https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2023-08/A_HRC_52_CRP.4_En%20%28003%29.pdf
March ‘24 – https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/55/66
October ‘24 – https://docs.un.org/en/A/79/549
March ‘25 – https://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/58/67

Germany to send fighter jets to Latvia during election amid drone threat (Politico)
https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-to-send-fighter-jets-to-latvia-during-election-amid-drone-threat/

Russia stages early voting in occupied Ukraine ahead of national election (Euronews)
https://www.euronews.com/video/2026/09/15/russia-stages-early-voting-in-occupied-ukraine-ahead-of-national-election

Putin weaponizing migration to destabilize Europe, Kyiv says (Kyiv Independent)
https://kyivindependent.com/putin-weaponizing-migration-to-destabilize-europe-kyiv-says/

Global hunger is a threat to Britain’s national security, report says (The Telegraph)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/climate-and-people/global-hunger-is-a-threat-to-britains-national-security/

Russia plans new prison complex in occupied Kherson Oblast among wider prison expansion (Kyiv Independent)
https://kyivindependent.com/russia-plans-new-prison-complex-in-occupied-kherson-oblast-among-wider-prison-expansion/

If you’re interested in sponsoring Dom’s upcoming defence event, email our colleagues at events@telegraph.co.uk

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:

'We'll throttle your war machine': US lawmakers pass major Russia sanctions bill
Ukraine targets Russian oil refinery and aircraft, igniting huge blaze

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

Day 1,662.
Today, the EU announces a ‘counter-hybrid playbook’ and its own version of NATO’s Article 4 after the worrying increase of hybrid incidents and attacks on Europe. The US indicts four Russian intelligence agents preparing acts of terrorism and assassinations across Europe and the US. Meanwhile, American lawmakers are set to vote on Lindsey Graham’s Russian sanctions bill and President Zelensky claims that Moscow intentionally attacked Moldova. Later, Alex Nichol meets the activist risking everything to smuggle military deserters out of Russia.

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

With thanks to Grigory Sverdlin, Russian activist and founder of the Get Lost project.

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:

Get Lost organisation website
https://iditelesom.org/en

Grigory Sverdlin’s book, Warming Point: How I Did Charity Work in Russia and Became an Enemy of the State (in Russian)
https://magaz.global/product/grigorii-sverdlin-punkt-obogreva

Ukraine's Zelenskyy tells CBS News Russia tried to attack his plane with drones twice in recent weeks (CBS)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-russia-war-zelenskyy-cbs-interview-drones-targeted-plane-twice/

Why Zelenskyy says there’s no ‘win-win’ with Russia | Canadian exclusive (CBC)
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7344745

If you’re interested in sponsoring Dom’s upcoming defence event, email our colleagues at events@telegraph.co.uk

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:

Meet the activists who smuggled 3600 deserters out of Russia
New Ukrainian interceptor destroys Russia's powerful jet-powered drone

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