Ukraine: The Latest Folgen

Day 1,518.Today, after months of back-room negotiations, delays and doubts, we go live to Brussels as the EU finally approves the €90 billion loan for Ukraine. How significant is this decision for Kyiv’s war effort – and what happens now that the funding is secured? We also report on the proposal of “Donnyland”, a suggested name for territory in Donbas Ukraine may dedicate to Donald Trump. Then we round up the latest headlines from Russia and Central Asia.Contributors:Francis Dearnley (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @FrancisDearnley on X.Dominic Nicholls (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @DomNicholls on X.Joe Barnes (Brussels Correspondent). @Barnes_Joe on X.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:Ukraine to launch EU-funded weapons spending spree after Orban defeat (Joe Barnes in The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/21/ukraine-to-spend-90bn-eu-windfall-on-patriots-and-storm-sha/ The Ukrainian negotiator who can silence Russia’s guns with one call (Joe Barnes in The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/20/ukrainian-peacemaker-swapping-prisoners Ukraine proposes creating ‘Donnyland’ to satisfy Trump (The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/22/ukraine-proposes-creating-donnyland-to-satisfy-trump/ A banking crisis made in the Kremlin is gripping Russia (Melissa Lawford in The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/04/22/a-banking-crisis-made-in-the-kremlin-is-gripping-russia/ Putin closes major oil pipeline to Germany (The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/04/22/putin-stokes-european-fuel-crisis-cutting-off-oil-germany/ Russian economy is faltering despite oil windfall, Sweden warns (Financial Times):https://www.ft.com/content/04a9d05d-2502-44d4-b7e0-041aaa4f83cd?syn-25a6b1a6=1 ‘Donnyland’? Ukraine Proposes Naming Part of the Donbas in Trump’s Honor (New York Times):https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/us/politics/donnyland-ukraine-donbas-trump.html Russia and North Korea Celebrate Joining of First Road Bridge (Moscow Times):https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2026/04/21/russia-and-north-korea-celebrate-joining-of-first-road-bridge-a92556 New biography on author Mikhail Bulgakov labeled under 'drug propaganda' law in Russia (Kyiv Independent):https://kyivindependent.com/amid-growing-censorship-laws-book-on-author-mikhail-bulgakov-labeled-drug-propaganda-in-russia/?mc_cid=9364e648a5&mc_eid=08d0680a95 EMAIL US:Contact the team on ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk . We continue to read every message, and seek to respond to as many on air and in our newsletter as possible.HIGHLIGHTS: EU approves €90 billion loan for Ukraine.A territory in the Donbas region of Ukraine may be named ‘Donnyland’ in tribute to Donald Trump. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Day 1,517.Today, amid another exchange of drone and missile strikes between Ukraine and Russia, we report on growing speculation that the European Union’s €90 billion loan for Kyiv could finally be approved as early as tomorrow. We also examine Ukraine’s efforts to develop its own alternative to US-made Patriot air defence systems. Then, later, we take a deep dive into a major new Western film, The Wizard of the Kremlin, exploring how accurately it portrays Vladimir Putin’s rise to power – and the wider questions raised by telling Russia’s story through a pre-war, fictional lens.Contributors:Adelie Pojzman-Pontay (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @Adeliepjz on X.Francis Dearnley (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @FrancisDearnley on X.With thanks to Chief Film Critic at The Telegraph Robbie Collin and political scientist Anna Colin Lebedev.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:Exclusive interview: World faces new nuclear arms race (The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/20/world-faces-new-nuclear-arms-race-head-of-un-atomic-agency/ Former tank commander reviews Challenger 3 (Hamish de Bretton-Gordon in The Telegraph):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PLOyJKtGKw Russian nursery-school children taught to fly drones (The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/21/russia-nursery-school-children-fly-drones/ Jude Law as Vladimir Putin? It’s a strangely flattering choice (Robbie Collin in The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/review-wizard-kremlin-putin-jude-law/ (Hom)mage du Kremlin, Anna Colin Lebedev: In French: https://colinlebedev.fr/2026/01/22/hommage-du-kremlin/In English: https://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article77848Personal Website: colinlebedev.frJude Law plays Putin in a film shot in Riga. Latvian officials say it serves Kremlin propaganda (Meduza):https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/03/07/jude-law-plays-putin-in-a-film-shot-in-riga-latvian-officials-say-it-serves-kremlin-propaganda The History Bureau, Putin and the Apartment Bombs (BBC):https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m002q5dkUkraine pushing to produce home-grown ballistic defense system 'within a year,' Zelensky says (Kyiv Independent):https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-pushing-to-produce-home-grown-ballistic-defense-system-within-a-year-zelensky-says/EMAIL US:Contact the team on ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk . We continue to read every message, and seek to respond to as many on air and in our newsletter as possible.HIGHLIGHTS: Russian nursery-school children ‘taught to fly drones’Reviewing new film 'The Wizard of the Kremlin' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Day 1,516.Today, as President Zelensky warns of increased Russian military activity in neighbouring Belarus, we discuss weekend Ukrainian air raids targeting oil refineries around Moscow. We then examine a shock election result that has brought another pro-Russia leader to power within both the EU and NATO, following in the footsteps of Hungary’s Viktor Orbán. And later, we speak to a veteran foreign correspondent who spent 25 years in Russia – and has made more than a dozen trips to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion – for his memories of how Vladimir Putin built a system of ever greater repression and violence.Contributors:Francis Dearnley (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @FrancisDearnley on X.Dominic Nicholls (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @DomNicholls on X.With thanks to Marc Bennetts – foreign correspondent at The Times of London. 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:Marc Bennetts’ book, ‘The Descent: Witnessing Russia's Spiral into Madness Under Putin’:https://amzn.eu/d/0euJ6Dc6 Pro-Russian fighter pilot wins crushing victory in Bulgaria election (The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/20/rumen-radev-bulgaria-election-win-pro-russia-progressive Moscow-born gunman kills six in Kyiv supermarket ‘terror attack’ (The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/18/moscow-born-gunman-shoots-five-people-dead-in-kyiv-attack/ BBC’s Steve Rosenberg: I’m walking a tightrope in Russia. It could all end tomorrow (The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/20/steve-rosenberg-on-putins-russia/EMAIL US:Contact the team on ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk . We continue to read every message, and seek to respond to as many on air and in our newsletter as possible. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.