Ukraine: The Latest

Day 1,670.
Today, Washington’s top diplomat says he has invited Vladimir Putin to the G20 summit in Miami later this year, even as Moscow continues its brutal assault on Ukrainian civilians – including on a maternity hospital in the capital overnight. Meanwhile, a fire at a Starlink satellite station in Poland was a deliberate act of sabotage, according to Warsaw, as Denmark warns of the rising threat from Russia. We’ll have the latest from the diplomatic wrangling at the UN general assembly, including President Zelensky’s attack on the EU for dropping some Russian sanctions. And later, we turn to your questions.

Contributors:
Roland Oliphant (Senior Foreign Analyst). @RolandOliphant on X.
Alex Nichol (Telegraph Journalist).

Senior Producer: Lilian Fawcett
Video Producer: Tom Steed
Social Producer: Natalia Makohon
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:
Listen to Roland speak to Iona Cleave at the UN General Assembly on Iran: The Latest
On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3yi1uXRLDDLXb3D705zHWa?si=3f73adaea823441a
On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmYw4lHgBK4&list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk&index=1

Russian losses in the war with Ukraine. Mediazona count, updated (BBC Russia Service and Mediazona)
https://en.zona.media/article/2026/09/21/casualties_eng-trl

La CIA alerta de un ataque ruso con drones contra España, Francia o Italia (‘CIA warning about Russian drones strikes against Spain, France and Italy’, El Mundo)
https://www.elmundo.es/internacional/2026/09/23/6ab411e9fdddff35028b4598.html

Alex’s interview with Grigory Sverdlin, founder of Get Lost
On Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ukraine-the-latest/id1612424182?i=1000790063760
On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6cnkk1J0I1UqtxTYVUL4Fe?si=a2c72a1d799a4e47
On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcV10QYYU9Y

Join our Community page on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@UkraineTheLatest/community

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:
Zelensky tells Russian hecklers he will only visit Moscow ’on a rocket’
Poland says Starlink attack was sabotage amid surge in drone threats against Nato
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Day 1,669.
Today, the Red Cross says 275,000 people have been registered as missing in connection with Russia’s war against Ukraine. We return to the United Nations in New York, where Presidents Trump and Zelensky met to discuss an energy truce and bringing the war to an end, as UK prime minister Andy Burnham offered his support. Then, we hear the perspectives of some soldiers on the frontlines, and why some long for the days of trench warfare, from reporter Colin Freeman who recently returned from Ukraine.

Contributors:
Francis Dearnley (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @FrancisDearnley on X.
Dominic Nicholls (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @DomNicholls on X.
Colin Freeman (Freelance reporter). @colinfreeman99 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:
David Knowles Fundraiser for KHARPP:
https://www.zeffy.com/en-GB/donation-form/fundraiser-for-kharpp-in-memory-of-david-knowles

Frontline Club Event with the Kyiv Independent on 1st October (Francis Dearnley moderating):
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/panel-discussion-ukraine-inside-their-war-tickets-2000033706656?aff=oddtdtcreator

The Kyiv Independent Live in London on 2 October:
https://tickets.kyivindependent.com/events/thekyivindependentlive/2281999/r/frontline

Colin Freeman's Book on the International Legion:
https://amzn.eu/d/0cqiSDDD

Ukraine open to grain truce with Russia, deputy PM says (Politico)
https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-open-to-grain-truce-with-russia-deputy-pm-vsevolod-chentsov-says/

Ukraine veterans yearn for return to trench warfare (Colin Freeman for The Telegraph)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/09/21/ukraine-veterans-yearn-for-days-of-meat-wave-war/

Dom’s interview with Valerie Stobbart, mother of Nathan Stobbart who went missing while fighting for Russia:
On Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ukraine-the-latest/id1612424182?i=1000789807562
On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/34xFLINgowRYMKp3AJ9BmX?si=479d9d97182b4251
On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53m2ZP3xm6A

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:
Drone warfare makes us long for the trenches, say frontline soldiers
275,000 people reported missing in connection with the war
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.