Ukraine: The Latest - "Moscow is rapidly getting used to a full fledged war"
Today on Ukraine: The Latest, we bring you the latest news Ukraine, analyse the growing closeness of Russia and North Korea & we have the second part of a special two-part interview with the FT’s Ukraine Correspondent, Christopher Miller.
Associate Editor for Defence, Dominic Nicholls, unpacks the latest raft of drone strikes on Russia’s capital:
There have been more drone attacks in Moscow, the fifth in seven days.
Mykhailo Polyak, an advisor to President Zelensky, said “Moscow is rapidly getting used to a full fledged war, which in turn will soon finally move to the territory of the authors of the war, to collect all their debts. Everything that will happen in Russia is an objective historical process. More unidentified drones, more collapse, more civil conflicts, more war”.
His comments echo President Zelensky’s comments on Sunday after their drones hit Moscow when he said that the war was returning to the territory of Russia.
Joining the podcast today was Asia Correspondent, Nicola Smith, who explained Russia’s move towards closer ties with North Korea:
Since last year, intelligence reports that have warned that Russia is trying to, and has, bought rockets and artillery shells from North Korea in exchange for food aid and other supplies like oil and medicines that North Korea desperately needs.
Then you have Russia, North Korea, and China to a certain extent clearly see that it’s in each other’s interest to band together in this region, in East Asia, against a growing alliance between the United States, South Korea, and Japan.
For Moscow, it’s a chance to give The U. S. a poke in the eye, so to speak, over Washington’s efforts to try and denuclearise the Korean peninsula and to try and stop Kim Jong Un’s weapons program.
Later on in the episode, the FT’s Ukraine Correspondent Christopher Miller gives his ground-level opinion on Ukraine’s ongoing counter-offensive:
I think with this counter offensive, it started much later than anticipated.
The Ukrainians were really trying to come up with a as much of a detailed battle plan as they could while waiting for as much Western weaponry to arrive as they could. At some point they decided, “Okay, we have to move now”. And I think it was because a lot of Western supporters, the United States in particular, was saying to Kyiv, “You need to get moving now”.
They needed to see results or returns on their investment, but also, they were saying every day you take to prepare, the Russians are also taking to prepare their defences.
Christopher Miller’s new book can be found here.
Listen to Ukraine: the Latest, The Telegraph’s daily podcast, using the audio player at the top of this article or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast app.
War in Ukraine is reshaping our world. Every weekday the Telegraph’s top journalists analyse the invasion from all angles - military, humanitarian, political, economic, historical - and tell you what you need to know to stay updated.
With over 40 million downloads, our Ukraine: The Latest podcast is your go-to source for all the latest analysis, live reaction and correspondents reporting on the ground. We have been broadcasting ever since the full-scale invasion began.
Ukraine: The Latest’s regular contributors are:
David Knowles
David is Head of Audio Development at the Telegraph where he has worked for nearly three years. He has reported from across Ukraine during the full-scale invasion.
Dominic Nicholls
Dom is Associate Editor (Defence) at the Telegraph having joined in 2018. He previously served for 23 years in the British Army, in tank and helicopter units. He had operational deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland.
Francis Dearnley
Francis is Assistant Comment Editor at the Telegraph. Prior to working as a journalist, he was Chief of Staff to the Chair of the Prime Minister’s Policy Board at the Houses of Parliament in London. He studied History at Cambridge University and on the podcast explores how the past shines a light on the latest diplomatic, political, and strategic developments.
They are also regularly joined by the Telegraph’s foreign correspondents around the world, including Joe Barnes (Brussels), Sophia Yan (China), Nataliya Vasilyeva (Russia), Roland Oliphant (Senior Reporter) and Colin Freeman (Reporter). In London, Venetia Rainey (Weekend Foreign Editor), Katie O’Neill (Assistant Foreign Editor), and Verity Bowman (News Reporter) also frequently appear to offer updates.
