Ukraine: The Latest

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.

Day 1,661.
Today, the Danish Prime Minister condemns the latest ‘reckless action’ by Moscow, after a Russian frigate in the Baltic Sea fired flares at a military helicopter. NATO jets were also in action last night, shooting down a drone over Lithuania. The Ukrainian commander who masterminded the recent counterattack in the Donbas region gives a little more detail about what happened. And in news that will surprise almost no one, Donald Trump’s claim to have got a deal over the line between Kyiv and Moscow about a ceasefire on energy facilities has, just like Russia’s Syzran oil facility last night, gone up in smoke. Later, Dom speaks to the mother of a man missing on the frontline after being forced to fight for Russia.

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

With thanks to Valerie Stobbart.

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:

My son moved to Russia for love. Now, he’s missing on the front line (Dom Nicholls and Natalia Makohon for The Telegraph)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/09/15/my-son-moved-russia-love-missing-front-line/

Civil servant sacked after asking Telegraph to find son missing in Ukraine (Dom Nicholls for The Telegraph)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/09/15/civil-servant-sacked-telegraph-appeal-son-missing-ukraine/
Russian frigate fires flares at Danish military helicopter (The Telegraph)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/09/15/nato-italy-jets-shoot-down-drone-lithuania/

Zelensky sanctions press secretary who accused him of using drugs (The Telegraph)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/09/14/volodymyr-zelensky-press-secretary-drugs-ukraine-russia/

Putin’s plan to paralyse Ukraine (Antonia Langford for The Telegraph)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/09/15/putins-plan-paralyse-ukraine/

Donald Trump Jr.’s Bahamas Wedding Was Secretly Bankrolled by Russian Oligarch Close to Putin (ProPublica)
https://www.propublica.org/article/donald-trump-jr-wedding-bankrolled-russian-oligarch-umar-kremlev-putin

Jared Kushner’s Dollar Diplomacy (New Yorker)
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/09/21/jared-kushners-dollar-diplomacy

Learn more about the Ukrainian Film Festival in London:
https://uil.org.uk/ukrainian-film-festival-2025-through-love-and-loss-2/

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:

Exclusive: ‘My son moved to Russia for love. Now, he’s missing on the front line’
Denmark condemns ‘reckless action’ after a Russian frigate fired flares at a military helicopter

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

Day 1,660.
Today, after Russia strikes a train near the Ukrainian border with Poland, narrowly missing top European officials including Boris Johnson, we consider whether the attack was deliberate. The officials were attending a major gathering in Kyiv seeking to forge a new way forward – we’ll bring you the highlights. Then we try to get to the bottom of what some are calling ‘Ukraine’s biggest victory this year’ – the reported counterattack around Lyman liberating almost 200 square kilometers of territory. If confirmed, it seemingly exposed lying Russian commanders, Ukrainian formidable operational security, and expectations in the ground war over the coming months.

Contributors:
Francis Dearnley (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @FrancisDearnley on X.
Dominic Nicholls (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @DomNicholls on X.
Memphis Barker (senior foreign correspondent). @memphisbarker 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:

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

World’s First Naval Drone Duel Results In Ukrainian Success (Naval News)
https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2026/09/worlds-first-naval-drone-duel-results-in-ukrainian-success/

Germany floats new Ukraine loan backed by frozen Russian assets (Politico)
https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-ukraine-loan-frozen-russia-assets/

EU fails to agree Russia sanctions rollover with one day to spare (Politico)
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-fails-to-agree-russia-sanctions-rollover-with-one-day-to-spare/

Germany Aims to Prevent Far Right From Accessing Secret War Plan (Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-10/germany-aims-to-prevent-far-right-from-accessing-secret-war-plan

House to take up Russia sanctions bill next week (The Hill)
https://thehill.com/homenews/6084914-house-russia-sanctions-vote/

Francis’s interview with Ambassador Daniel Fried:
On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUjC_O7ZpeE
On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2RGt2H2Ww2a44wXP16XBkm
On Apple:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/putin-will-exhaust-russias-capacity-by-2028-ukrainian/id1612424182?i=1000789061444

Ukraine’s biggest victory this year exposes lying Russian commanders (Memphis Barker for The Telegraph)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/09/12/lying-russian-commanders-ukraines-biggest-victory-putin/

Watch Mephis’s video on the Lyman counterattack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56b-9FOC-58&pp=ygUJdGVsZWdyYXBo

Berlin-Hacker stellten geheime Drohnen-Akten ins Netz! (‘Berlin hackers put secret drone files online!’: Bild)
https://www.bild.de/politik/inland/berlin-leak-geheimakten-ueber-drohnengefahr-am-ber-6aa3ebb40f417ae59102eab3

Russia Is Churning Out Smart, Cheap New Weapons Faster Than Ukraine or the U.S. (Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/world/russia-is-churning-out-smart-cheap-new-weapons-faster-than-ukraine-or-the-u-s-c817d014

Ukraine’s way of fighting war can’t match what’s coming (Eric Schmidt for the Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/09/09/how-russia-is-erasing-ukraines-battlefield-advantage/

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:
Putin 'knocking on doors of NATO' with near-miss strike on train of European officials
How Ukraine’s audacious counterattack exposed lying Russian officials

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

Day 1,657.
Today, on the anniversary of 9/11, a British intelligence chief has warned that the world is more dangerous today than in 2001. Then we report on the latest attacks, including in Kyiv and on an Ozon warehouse in Russia’s Saratov region, and get insights from Western officials about the true state of Russian casualty figures and the strategic picture of the war. Then, Francis speaks to Ambassador Daniel Fried, the former US diplomat who played a key role in American policy in Europe after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Contributors:
Francis Dearnley (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @FrancisDearnley on X.
With thanks for Ambassador Daniel Fried, former US diplomat and Weiser Family Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council.

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:

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

MI5 chief: Britain faces greater danger now than on 9/11 (The Telegraph)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/09/11/mi5-chief-britain-911-danger-islamic-extremism-terrorism/

Ukrainian drones hit oil refinery, Ozon warehouse as Russia's Saratov comes under attack (Kyiv Independent)
https://kyivindependent.com/ukrainian-drones-reportedly-strike-saratov-oil-refinery-ozon-warehouse/

Ukraine spy chief: Putin will exhaust Russia’s capacity by 2028 (The Times)
https://www.thetimes.com/article/db2f0938-04d9-4f84-ba19-093979453bce

The seeds of the next 9/11 are being sown in West Africa (Rozina Sabur and Ben Farmer for The Telegraph)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/09/11/the-seeds-of-the-next-911-are-being-sown-in-west-africa/

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:
Putin will exhaust Russia’s capacity by 2028, Ukrainian intelligence chief says
British officials confirm record Russian casualty rate

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