Frontline: The War in Ukraine and Global Security

“They have been able to sink the Russian navy in the Black Sea, without a navy, but with sea drones.” Russia expert Diane Francis and Chatham House’s Orysia Lutsevych discuss the last four years of the Ukraine war and how the Ukrainians have “reinvented warfare” by striking Putin’s navy and key infrastructure with it's innovative drone warfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more infor...

“Let the Russians brag about their inexorable advance all they want while Ukrainians figure out how to slaughter them to the tune of 40-50,000 a month.” Former commander of the US army in Europe General Ben Hodges, The Times’s Maxim Tucker and former advisor to the Ukrainian ministry of defence Yuriy Sak join Philip Ingram to reflect on the last four years of the Ukraine war. Hosted on Acast. See...

“That’s a huge figure which is, at the moment, more than Russia’s recruitment rate.” Putin could be forced into difficult decisions that could threaten his regime after Ukraine’s commander-in-chief reports that Ukraine killed 32,000 Russian troops last month alone, says The Times’s Maxim Tucker. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“It really caused a breakdown in the cohesion of many units, which meant they couldn’t coordinate either the attacks against the Ukrainians or defence against Ukrainian attacks.” Elon Musk’s decision to cut off Starlink access to Putin's forces “took them by surprise” and has halted Russian attacks on the frontline, says Major General Mick Ryan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more info...

"If he sits down with Zelensky and Trump, then it becomes obvious who the person is who doesn't want peace, and that's Vladimir Putin," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's comments on peace in Ukraine show Putin is still under pressure not to accept any US/Ukraine peace terms or be pushed into a trilateral meeting, says Sir Bill Browder on Frontline Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

"Once Putin takes a step back, that's it he's done." Putin is facing "internal divisions" after Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov voiced concerns that agreements made with Trump in Alaska had collapsed while Kremlin hardliners push for Russia not to sign any agreement, says Prof. Scott Lucas on Frontline. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“A small number of cheap, AI-guided attack and interceptor drones … can knock down Shahed systems.” Putin’s Shahed systems are being wiped out by innovative Ukrainian and European drone systems, says former Major General Chip Chapman. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“He is wagering the Russian economy in this war, not the army any more.” Putin’s army is “flagging and failing, and getting degraded by the day”, which is consequently dragging down the Russian economy, says the Atlantic Council’s senior fellow, Diane Francis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Why didn’t we do this two or three years ago?” The Kremlin is “rattled” as Europe signs an agreement stating that vessels which change their flag will be deemed flagless and liable to boarding after a Russian oil tanker was found in the Atlantic, says former British Army colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“There is a slight issue that there may be a restricted flow of information to Putin.” As Putin has grown older and “more autocratic”, the intelligence reaching the Russian leader has thinned out, says former Defence Committee clerk and secretary to the UK delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Eliot Wilson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“This is existential.” Putin’s insistence that the Donbas be signed over to Russia in peace negotiations highlights his inability to take the “heavily fortified fortress”, says former British diplomat Cormac Smith. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“We’re getting closer to autonomy at the end, so if the Russians try to break the connection between the pilot and the drone, the drone can continue on.” Ukraine is “winning the drone war” as it moves closer to finishing “autonomous drones”, says military historian and professor Phillips O’Brien. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“He’s recognising desperately that he’s not winning on the battlefield.” Putin’s recent attacks on Lviv show his desperation, as his battlefield failures have forced the Russian leader into a “dilemma”, says former US ambassador to Ukraine William B Taylor. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Russia's failures at Kupiansk will have Putin questioning his generals capability as Trump's more aggressive stance on the world stage could threaten the Kremlin regime, says The Times' Michael Binyon on Frontline. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“This is bread and butter operations for the US coastguard and the US military forces involved, they can do this in their sleep.” US military forces managed to seize the Russian-flagged oil tanker in a “simple takeover”, says former royal marine James Glancy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“It demonstrates that the Russians really are powerless to really do anything about this.” Trump is “finally enforcing sanctions” as he seizes a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the Atlantic, says Lieutenant General Ben Hodges. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Is anything really unravelling at a speed on the Ukrainian side, with such significance on the Russian side that we’re likely to get to some point where either Ukraine collapses or Russia collapses. The answer to that is no.” Putin’s belief that he is “operating at pace” is far fetched as the small Russian advances fail to make any major breakthroughs, says Major General Chip Chapman. Hosted on A...

Putin's claims of taking Kupiansk resulted in Russian humiliation as a Ukrainian counter offensive has left one hundred of Kremlin's troops trapped in the centre, says Jimmy Rushton on Frontline. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“The Russian people have a high degree of apathy when it comes to Putin.” Putin’s grip on the Russian people is vulnerable to just “snapping” as they wake up to impacts of oil shortages, says former US special envoy to Ukraine, Kurt Volker. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“One by one we can take you out.” Ukraine is “causing Putin pain” by taking out Russia’s oil infrastructure and strategic bomber fleet, says former Air Vice Marshal Sean Bell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“They’re time limited.” Putin has failed to gain more than 0.9 per cent of Ukrainian territory this year, but has lost 400,000 Russians in the process, says Scott Lucas. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Russia's attempt to surge to put pressure on Kyiv over peace talks is coming at a high casualty cost, says Maxim Tucker the Times' Ukraine correspondent. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“The frontline has not collapsed, despite what they want us to believe.” Ukraine’s MOD says they have taken back about 20 per cent of Pokrovsk, says former British Army Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Russia have to reckon with the fact that Donald Trump has three more years in the white House. Is he going to be a lame duck president in a year's time?" Putin's scepticism for Trump's appeal to Russia and favourable peace deals is based in his mistrust of MAGA's ability to avoid collapse, warns John Lough, Head of Foreign Policy at the New Eurasian Strategies Centre. Hosted on Acast. See acast.c...

"Kyiv and the Europeans held out. They don't accept the plan and importantly, Marco Rubio, who does not like the Witkoff - Kushner plan, he's the head of the US delegation." US figures are worried about Steve Witkoff's role in peace talks after leaks suggested he had been coaching Russian representatives on manipulating Trump, Prof. Scott Lucas discusses the latest on Frontline with Louis Sykes. H...