Ukraine: The Latest

Day 1,547.
Today, we assess the reported scale of Russian military losses since 2026 and examine the new battlefield infiltration tactics Moscow has developed in an attempt to break through Ukrainian positions. We also take a closer look at the impact of Kyiv’s strikes on Russian oil refineries and investigate whether there is more behind London’s apparent easing of sanctions on Russian oil than meets the eye. Then we explore how Putin’s latest visit to Beijing is viewed in China, and ask whether the evolving relationship between Moscow and Beijing resembles a genuine strategic partnership – or something closer to vassalage. Finally, we hear from someone who was once a FOX News insider about moving to Ukraine and how we came to see the war differently from those in the MAGA movement.

Contributors:
Francis Dearnley (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @FrancisDearnley on X.
Sophia Yan (Senior Foreign Correspondent). Sophia_yan on X.
Alex Nichol (Telegraph Journalist).
With thanks to Joseph Lindsley.

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 secret Chinese surveillance programme tracking people like me (Sophia Yan in The Telegraph):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/19/leaked-secret-chinese-surveillance-programme-tracks-foreign/

I’ve reported on war, but I’ve never seen it told like this (Francis’s fashion piece in The Telegraph):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/people/ukraine-fashion-show-london-war-francis-dearnley/

Russia abandons ‘meat-grinder’ tactics to try four-man ambushes (The Telegraph):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/01/russia-abandons-meat-grinder-tactic-ukraine-war/

Exclusive: Russians covertly trained by China return to fight in Ukraine, sources say (Reuters):
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/russians-covertly-trained-by-china-return-fight-ukraine-sources-say-2026-05-19/

Joseph Lindsley’s Substack, ‘Under Fire News’:
https://underfirenews.substack.com

EMAIL US:
Contact the team on [email protected] . We continue to read every message, and seek to respond to as many on air and in our newsletter as possible.

HIGHLIGHTS:
Russia abandons ‘meat-grinder’ tactics to try four-man ambushes
‘Staggering’ scale of Putin’s losses revealed

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Day 1,546.
Today, as the British government suggests their pledge to ‘stand with Ukraine as long as it takes’ should actually say ‘as long as it doesn’t upset my summer holiday’ we examine the reaction to London’s decision to relax some Russian sanctions. We report how Russian jets flew so close to an RAF aircraft over the Black Sea it triggered onboard emergency systems, and we look at how Vladimir Putin's trip to Beijing is being reported in Moscow. Plus, we take our regular look at how brilliantly the Russian economy is performing and talk about magic mushrooms in Armenia.

Contributors:
Dominic Nicholls (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @DomNicholls on X.
Alexander Nichol (Telegraph Journalist).
James Kilner (Russia Analyst). @JkJourno on X.

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:

PM’s sanctions U-turn ‘will fund killing of Ukrainian soldiers’ (The Telegraph):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/05/20/starmer-eases-sanctions-on-russian-oil/

Xi and Putin: ‘Colonial’ world order has failed (The Telegraph):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/20/xi-putin-beijing-meeting-russia-china/

EMAIL US:
Contact the team on [email protected] . We continue to read every message, and seek to respond to as many on air and in our newsletter as possible.

HIGHLIGHTS:
Putin and Xi: ‘Colonial’ world order has failed
British PM accused of ‘killing of Ukrainian soldiers’

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Day 1,545.
Today, after a NATO fighter jet shoots down a suspected Ukrainian drone over Estonia, we examine the mounting risks of escalation on NATO’s eastern flank and what the incident reveals about the increasingly crowded skies above the Baltic region. We also look at reports of a collapse in Russian defensive lines near a settlement in Zaporizhzhia as Ukraine presses its counterattacks in the south. Then we turn to Moscow to assess how the Kremlin and Russian state media are reporting – or not – news of Ukraine’s major strikes on Russian infrastructure ahead of Putin’s high-stakes visit to China. And later, we take a deep dive into how investigations into war crimes have evolved over the past four years.

Contributors:
Francis Dearnley (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @FrancisDearnley on X.
Dominic Nicholls (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @DomNicholls on X.
Adelie Pojzman-Pontay (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @Adeliepjz on X.

With thanks to Yevhenia Motorevska – head of the War Crimes Investigation Unit at the Kyiv Independent.

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 drone attacks Putin doesn’t want Russians to see (The Telegraph):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/19/drone-attacks-putin-doesnt-want-russians-see-ukraine/

Xi Jinping told Donald Trump that Putin might ‘regret’ invasion of Ukraine (Financial Times):
https://www.ft.com/content/567c57b0-6346-43e6-9d14-840a793b4d1d?syn-25a6b1a6=1

Dom’s Video On the Frontline:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-LWZtJBCwY

From the Kyiv Independent’s War Crimes Investigation Unit:
The War Before the War, Part I: https://kyivindependent.com/video/?slug=crimea-the-war-before-the-war-part-2
From Stalin to Putin – Russia’s history of torture:
https://youtu.be/p7Ei6mAf3mQ
Exposing Russia’s indoctrination of Ukrainian children:
https://youtu.be/RZGmv2EQdGk
Investigation: Uncovering the secret Russian FSB operation to loot Ukraine's museums
https://kyivindependent.com/investigation-uncovering-fsbs-secret-operation-to-steal-ukraines-valuable-art/
The Kyiv Independent doesn’t have a paywall or an owner and is supported by a
community of readers who make this work possible. Starting today, the Kyiv Independent team is on a quest to find 4000 new members globally. You can become a member here.

EMAIL US:
Contact the team on [email protected] . We continue to read every message, and seek to respond to as many on air and in our newsletter as possible.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Russian position 'collapses' in southeastern town
The drone attacks Putin ‘doesn't want you to see’

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

Day 1,544.
Today, after Ukraine unleashes a sweeping wave of retaliatory strikes in response to last week’s Russian attacks – shutting down Moscow airports, damaging naval assets, and sending huge fireballs into the sky above Russian oil infrastructure – the Kremlin signals it may once again be open to peace talks, potentially even reopening channels with the European Union. We ask whether Moscow may also need urgent talks with Beijing after one of its Shahed drones reportedly struck a Chinese cargo ship just days before Vladimir Putin’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. We also hear from Berlin on how Europe is accelerating efforts to rearm in the face of growing Russian aggression and deepening American disengagement. And later, we speak to an adviser to the Ukrainian government about Kyiv’s mounting military recruitment crisis after intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov warned that voluntary enlistment alone can no longer meet the army’s needs.

Contributors:
Dominic Nicholls (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @DomNicholls on X.
James Rothwell (Berlin Correspondent). @JamesERothwell on X.
With thanks to Olesia Horiainova of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center.

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:

Europe’s sleeping giant rearms (James Rothwell & Joe Barnes in The Telegraph):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/11/europes-sleeping-giant-rearms-germany-weapons-war-russia/

Putin gifted upper hand as Trump triggers European missile crisis (James Rothwell & Joe Barnes in The Telegraph):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/18/europes-deep-strike-dilemma-and-how-it-untangles-itself/

Ukraine launches biggest attack on Moscow in a year (The Telegraph):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/17/ukraine-launches-biggest-attack-on-moscow-in-a-year/

Ukrainian drones destroy £30m Russian plane at airbase (The Telegraph):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/16/ukrainian-drones-destroy-russian-aircraft-airbase/

EMAIL US:
Contact the team on [email protected] . We continue to read every message, and seek to respond to as many on air and in our newsletter as possible.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Russia ‘attacks Chinese ship’ in Black Sea
Ukraine hits Moscow in biggest strike of 2026

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

Day 1,541.
Today, after the two days of near continuous strikes against Ukraine with over 1,600 drones and missiles fired on the country – with at least 12 killed by a single projectile – we hear the latest round of American withdrawals of thousands of troops from Europe, and a sobering assessment from experts at Chatham House about the direction of the war. Then we have an extraordinary exclusive interview with a Russian FSB agent who claims he fled Moscow in a dead cow.

Contributors:
Francis Dearnley (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @FrancisDearnley on X.
Dominic Nicholls (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @DomNicholls on X.
Roland Oliphant (Chief Foreign Analyst). @RolandOliphant on X.
Hayley Dixon (Special Correspondent). @HaylesDixon on X.

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 won’t last’: Russian agent who fled Moscow in a dead cow (The Telegraph):
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng7-LI7VK8M
Long Read: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/14/dmitry-senin-russia-fsb-escaped-putin-in-dead-cow/

Pentagon cancels deployment of thousands of troops to Europe (The Telegraph):
https://kyivindependent.com/us-cancels-planned-deployment-of-4-000-troops-to-poland/?mc_cid=d10bd88d37&mc_eid=08d0680a95

Russia issues Ben Wallace with arrest warrant for ‘justifying terrorism’ (The Telegraph):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/13/russia-ben-wallace-arrest-warrant-justifying-terrorism/

How a Ukrainian air assault on Russia led to the resignation of a Latvian prime minister (Kyiv Independent):
https://kyivindependent.com/how-2-ukrainian-drones-sparked-political-turmoil-in-latvia/

EMAIL US:
Contact the team on [email protected] . We continue to read every message, and seek to respond to as many on air and in our newsletter as possible.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Exclusive: ‘Putin won’t last’ – Russian agent who fled Moscow in a dead cow
Zelensky’s ‘revenge’ attacks after three days of huge strikes
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.