Frontline: The War in Ukraine and Global Security

“Crimea is becoming a burden for Russia.”Ukraine has paralysed life in Crimea with its recent attacks on energy grids and infrastructure, increasing the burden on Putin, says former Major General Chip Chapman. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“These longer to medium range strike drones are able to pick off the Russian trucks and trains.”Ukraine isolates Crimea through a thoughtout campaign which denies Russian land forces freedom of movement and freedom of manoeuvre, says The ISW’s George Barros. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode of Frontline, Kate Gerbeau speaks to Major General Richard Shirreff about Ukraine’s “Darwinian innovation” and he reacts to the breaking news of the UK defence minister’s resignation.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“I understand Putin hasn’t been outside, as it were, for weeks, if not months now.”Putin is “terrified” of venturing outside of his “highly defended palaces or the Kremlin” as he fears being taken out by Ukraine, says Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, the author of ‘Tank Command.’  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Professor Scott Lucas & Maddie Hale Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Every authoritarian regime has an internet kill switch which they can employ, but the population do get generally quite disturbed when those things happen and it can exacerbate your economic model.”Putin’s paranoia is “elevated” as outrage from internet blackouts in Russia sparks fears of assassination for its president, says former Major General Chip Chapman. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“We could walk back into the occupied territories without a shot being fired.”Ukraine has “clawed back the battlefield” by targeting Putin’s “achilles heel” with its strikes on Russia’s oil refineries, says former British Army soldier and journalist Shaun Pinner. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“If you were to get shooting Putin, if it were…if we have that in the channel or the Danish narrows, we could very quickly be in a chapter five Nato confrontation.”Putin could quickly find himself in a sticky situation if someone “gets fed up with him”, says The Standard’s defence editor and writer for The Independent and the i Robert Fox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“It’s got an arm like the Mossad that can hunt down Russian generals and anyone else who is responsible for war crimes.”Putin's commanders will “spend the rest of their lives looking under their cars and checking over their shoulders” as the GUR will make their lives miserable, says Lieutenant General Ben Hodges. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Putin ally Viktor Orban has stepped down after losing the Hungarian election, Michael Bociurkiw, Ukraine based journalist and former diplomat discusses what it means for Ukraine, Russia and European security on Frontline. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon on how Ukrainian deep strikes are putting pressure on the Kremlin while Putin’s forces fail to advanceOlesia Horianinova, Co-Founder of The Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center discusses Ukraine’s reforms appearing to solve the problem of recruitment in the military and  a similar crisis emerging in Russia’s theatre destabilising the Kremlin's power. And Scott Lucas tells us that Putin's spring offensive has begun reports show Russia is making gains needed to make up for losses in early 2026 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“There are people saying one of the lessons the Kremlin has reiterated to it is the strength of American air power with what happened against the Ayatollah in Tehran and what happened to Maduro in Venezuela…maybe that fed Putin’s own paranoia.”Putin’s disappearance from the political stage after Iran war ruins his last-ditch attempt to sort Russia-Ukraine negotiations, says former UK defence attache to Moscow and Kyiv John Foreman. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“These are the acts of a scared little man.”Vladimir Putin has switched off wifi access in Moscow and is avoiding the Kremlin by “hiding in a bunker somewhere” over fears to the risk to his own life, says financier and political activist Sir William Browder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Daniel Tkiie, Ukrainian news anchor and TV host, on how rising RUssian casualties are making putin’s war less and less popular among his people Scott Lucas Professor of International Politics, University College Dublin gives us insight into the American perspective of the war. And why Trump’s concession to Iran over the Straits of Hormuz hurt him, could be a big win for Putin and a big loss for the Republicans in the midterms?Diane Francis a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center tells us how the Ukrainian army has created digital killing zones and is creating a staggering amount of Russian casualties. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Russian territory is so large that Ukrainian drones can evade Russian air defences.”Putin’s full-scale war against Ukraine has “backfired against Russia” as Ukraine ability to produce millions of drones can stop his offensive, says Ukrainian news anchor and TV host Daniel Tkiie. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“This is about the fifth person in his inner circle who was about to be arrested for corruption.”Putin’s problems amount as his éminence grise, Vladislav Surkov, “suddenly disappeared”, says Kremlinologist and nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council Diane Francis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“The weaknesses they have shown are very serious indeed…the quality of troops and fighting spirit, despite all their deprivations, the Ukrainian side is beginning to expose what a dreadful mess the Russian units are in .”Ukraine have been taking advantage of Putin’s weaknesses on the battlefield as Russian troops turn on each other, says The Standard’s defence editor Robert Fox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“In terms of ability, competence, sophistication, Ukraine is streaks ahead.”Ukraine’s ability to develop sophisticated strategies with their drone attacks on Russian oil refineries and airfields is making “Putin and his advisers think”, says former clerk in House of Commons for the defence committee Eliot Wilson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“It’s bringing the fight a lot closer to the Russian military inside Russia.”Ukraine’s newly developed long-range missile packages have breached Putin’s walls and are targeting oil refineries and infrastructure inside Russia, says former US special envoy to Ukraine, Ambassador Kurt Volker. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Russia continues to lose Ukrainian territory omn the southern fronts after Starlink bans sent Russian logistics and comms into crisis says Prof. Scott Lucas on Frontline. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Now we’re seeing Ukrainian cruise missiles come online...there’s the possibility they can get the upper hand again.”Ukraine is developing their capabilities when it comes to cruise missiles as they are more accurate, says director of military sciences at RUSI Mathew Savill. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Putin will be worried about his survival as talks and military offensives fail to hand the Donbas to Russia, warns John Lough from the New Eurasian Strategies centre. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Putin’s generals or his elites around him may see that enough is enough and he could be forced out.”Targeting Russia’s oil supply will bring Putin “to his knees” as it will hit the war economy where it hurts, says analyst at the Atlantic Council Michael Bociurkiw.[3:13 PM] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“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 information.

“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 acast.com/privacy for more information.

“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 information.

"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 more information.

"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 Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.com/privacy for more information.

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

“If the US, along with Europe, pressurize Russia more, and we will continue as well with our deep strikes…this may bring Russia to the negotiating table whether they want it or not.”Putting pressure on Putin’s economy could be the key to Ukraine winning the war as it's in “a very poor state at the moment” and has no hope of improving, says former advisor to the minister of defence of Ukraine, Yuriy Sak.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“The tone of the call is viewing Russia as a partner… and Ukraine as an object...that is troubling.”The leaked transcript of Witkoff reportedly ‘coaching’ Russian officials adds to the “dysfunctionality” being shown by Trump's administration over the peace plan, says former US special envoy to Ukraine Ambassador Kurt Volker. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.