Ukraine: The Latest

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 military aid and European security. And later, we speak to the founder of an NGO supporting Ukrainian children with learning disabilities and other special educational needs, exploring how war affects those with heightened sensory sensitivities and what can be done to help.

Contributors:
Dominic Nicholls (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @DomNicholls on X.
Sophie O'Sullivan (Telegraph Journalist).
Adelie Pojzman-Pontay (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @Adeliepjz on X.

With thanks to Alex Khilodenko, the founder of the CodeIT4Life – an NGO that focuses on building secure underground spaces for children with learning disabilities or special needs, like autism, especially taking into account their sensory sensitivity in the midst of war.

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:

CodeIT4Life, the NGO in Kharkiv providing safe underground spaces for children with special needs:
https://codeit4.life/no-limits-inclusive-resource-center-in-derhachi/

Russia blamed for explosive drone at German airport (The Telegraph):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/08/05/explosive-drone-found-ukraine-plane-russia-germany/

Ukraine strikes oil refinery 800 miles inside Russia (The Telegraph):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/08/06/russia-strikes-ukrainian-train-station/

Report: ‘Russia’s UAV Campaign Over Europe’ (IISS):
https://www.iiss.org/globalassets/media-library---content--migration/images-delta/publications/research-papers/2026-new/russia-uav/ammended-file/russia_uav-campaign-over-europe.pdf

Trump declined Zelenskyy's request for additional Patriot missiles (Ukrainska Pravda): https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/08/05/8047361/

North Korean missile unit deploys in Russia for Ukraine war, Kyiv says (Reuters);
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/north-korean-missile-unit-deploys-russia-ukraine-war-kyiv-says-2026-08-05/

Trump, Hegseth clashed at Camp David over Iran missile depletion concerns (Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/08/05/trump-hegseth-clashed-camp-david-over-iran-missile-depletion-concerns/

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
Moscow blamed for explosive drone at German airport
Fuel queues return to Russia as Ukraine hits refineries
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Ukraine about providing medical care in a war zone.

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

With thanks to Dr Jarno Habicht of the World Health Organization (WHO).

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:
Russian soldier opens fire on his own platoon (Antonia Langford for The Telegraph)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/08/04/russian-soldier-opens-fire-on-his-own-platoon/

Syria tells US it is willing to drastically drop Russian oil imports (Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/syria-tells-us-it-is-willing-drastically-drop-russian-oil-imports-sources-say-2026-08-04/

Russia Approves State-Funded IVF for Widows as Birth Rates Hit Historic Low (Kyiv Post)
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/80941

Facing a demographic catastrophe, Ukraine is paying for troops to freeze their sperm (BBC)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqxd9549y4xo

Ukraine's war widows: 'None of us was prepared to pay such a high price for our country' (Le Monde)
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/02/17/ukraine-s-war-widows-none-of-us-was-prepared-to-pay-such-a-high-price-for-our-country_6535062_4.html

British Widows of the First World War, The Forgotten Legion, Andrea Hetherington
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/British-Widows-of-the-First-World-War-Hardback/p/14718

How Putin Turned Japan Into a Den of Spies (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/12/world/asia/russia-spies-japan-war-drones-electronics.html

MI6, DGSE, Ukraine... L’Express reveals an unprecedented ranking of Europe’s best spies (L’Express)
https://shorturl.at/6t6hW

French spy TV series, The Bureau:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4063800/

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:

Russian soldier opens fire on his own platoon
Moscow rains missiles on Kyiv in heaviest attack this year
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Kostiantynivka.

Contributors:
Dominic Nicholls (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @DomNicholls on X.
Lily Shanagher (Foreign Breaking News Report for The Telegraph). @LilyShanagher on X.

With thanks to Francis Farrell, Kyiv Independent Senior Reporter.

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:

Learn more about the Kyiv Independent’s October event in London:
https://kyivindependent.com/live/

Russia’s Wildberries to build 260,000 square metres of warehouse space in Kazakhstan (Novaya Gazeta)
https://novayagazeta.eu/en/articles/2026/08/04/russias-wildberries-to-build-260000-square-metres-of-warehouse-space-in-kazakhstan-en-news

Ukraine energy chief says infrastructure attacks will shape war’s outcome (Politico)
https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-energy-denys-shmyhal-winter-war/

"Twelve years of fairy tales": former commander-in-chief Zaluzhnyi says Ukraine will never join NATO (Ukrainska Pravda)
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/08/03/8047090/

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’s ‘barbaric’ drone safari caught on film
Another Wildberries warehouse burns in St Petersburg
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 say about how modern warfare is having a corrosive effect on contemporary society.

Contributors:
Francis Dearnley (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @FrancisDearnley on X.
Dominic Nicholls (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @DomNicholls on X.

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:

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

James Kilner on the true significance of the Wildberries attacks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_UYWPnaFRM&t=835s

Ukraine only able to intercept one of 27 Russian missiles aimed at Kyiv (The Telegraph):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/08/01/ukraine-only-able-intercept-one-27-russian-missiles-kyiv/

Trump backtracks on promise to give Ukraine Patriot blueprints (The Telegraph):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/07/31/trump-backtracks-promise-ukraine-patriot-blueprints/

'Nature of the threats has changed' — Kyiv removes protective structures from city monuments (Kyiv Independent)
https://kyivindependent.com/kyiv-to-remove-protective-coverings-over-monuments/?mc_cid=f58d6cc26e&mc_eid=08d0680a95

Zelensky Updates NSDC Roster Amid Government Reshuffle (Kyiv Post):
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/81516

Tulsi Gabbard and her guru (The Washington Post):
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2026/06/21/tulsi-gabbard-her-guru-mysterious-messages-that-helped-shape-her-political-career/

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: X/@bayraktar_1love

HIGHLIGHTS:
Wildberries strikes light up the sky 1000km inside Russia
Zelensky ‘reveals’ wartime death tolls
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 the next few weeks, which would be their first trip to Kyiv despite making multiple visits to Putin in Moscow. Finally, Adélie discusses Ukrainian war poetry, with the man who brought the newest generation of poets to English-speaking audiences.

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

With thanks to Hugh Roberts (@hugh.g.a.roberts on Instagram) and the University of Exeter.

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

Russian missile destroys US firm’s Kyiv drone factory (The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/30/us-firm-drone-factory-terminal-autonomy-ukraine-russia

Zelensky Asked Trump for a Favor From Elon Musk (The Atlantic)
https://www.theatlantic.com/national-security/2026/07/zelensky-asked-trump-for-a-favor-from-elon-musk/688122/

Donald Trump ‘not sure’ he will let Ukraine build Patriot missiles (Financial Times)
https://www.ft.com/content/d8c42f6b-4dba-4976-a907-c7c93bca0bbd?syn-25a6b1a6=1

War and peace: Ukraine’s ambassador in Washington joins our table (Christian Science Monitor)
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/monitor_breakfast/2026/0731/ukraine-ambassador-olga-stefanishyna?icid=rss

The Geopolitics of Russia’s Civil Nuclear Exports Four Years into the War (Centre for Strategic and International Studies)
https://www.csis.org/analysis/geopolitics-russias-civil-nuclear-exports-four-years-war

Ukrainian War Time Poetry:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx2YPXiQIIQvRHSFfabgsOZM_5G5eqj5O

Jantar Publishing House:
https://www.jantarpublishing.com/

Lines from the frontline: the poet soldiers defending Ukraine (The Conversation):
https://theconversation.com/lines-from-the-frontline-the-poet-soldiers-defending-ukraine-276676

Death of a Ukrainian Writer (New Yorker):
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-death-of-a-ukrainian-writer-victoria-amelina

The Buried Book That Helped Ukraine’s Literary Revival (The New York Times):
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/20/world/europe/ukraine-publishing-buried-book.html

More about Aliaksei Lazarau: https://x.com/Alx_lazarau/status/2050195969103307014

The petition to allow non-Ukrainian to be recognised as Hero of Ukraine: https://petition.president.gov.ua/petition/264020

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:

Russians 'fear being killed in Red Square,' Kyiv claims
Zelensky asks Elon Musk a favour
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.