Putin sacrifices Crimea air defences to shield Moscow & Zelensky says 'Russia will be forced to choose peace'

Day 1,581.

As the clock ticks down on President Zelensky’s ultimatum to Belarus, Dom examines reports that the drone relay stations Kyiv accused Minsk of hosting have suddenly stopped working – and asks whether Lukashenko may be edging away from Putin. He also has the latest on Ukraine’s long-range strikes deep inside Russia, as France seizes another shadow fleet tanker and Kyiv presses its campaign to raise the cost of war for the Kremlin. Francis unpacks NATO secretary general Mark Rutte’s visit to Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Later, we take you to Gdańsk for the Ukraine Recovery Conference, where the first tranche of the EU’s €90 billion support package is formally handed over to Kyiv.

Contributors:

Francis Dearnley (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @FrancisDearnley on X.

Dominic Nicholls (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @DomNicholls on X.

With thanks to Orysia Lutsevych, head of the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House.

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:

Orysia Lutsevych’s Chatham House paper, ‘Why a ‘whole-of-society’ model is essential for Ukraine’s recovery’:

https://www.chathamhouse.org/2026/06/why-whole-society-model-essential-ukraines-recovery

«Дураки за деньги закончились»: как российские власти пытаются решить проблему нехватки контрактников (Vertska, in Russian)

https://verstka.media/kak-rossiiskie-vlasti-pytayutsya-reshit-problemu-nehvatki-kontraktnikov

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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 sacrifices Crimea air defences to shield Moscow • Zelensky says 'Russia will be forced to choose peace'

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