Private mercenaries, GCHQ's response and on the ground in the Donbas | Ukraine: The Latest | Podcast

Day 231. Today, as the world continues to react to the Russian bombardment of Ukrainian cities, we hear from our Senior Reporter in the Donbas, and look deeper into the mysterious Wagner group.

Contributors:

Francis Dearnley (Host & Assistant Comment Editor). Follow Francis on Twitter @FrancisDearnley.

Dom Nicholls (Associate Editor, Defence). Follow Dom on Twitter @DomNicholls.

Nataliya Vasilyeva (Russia Correspondent). Follow Nataliya on Twitter @Nat_Vasilyeva.

Roland Oliphant (Senior Foreign Correspondent). Follow Roland on Twitter @RolandOliphant.

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[considerthis]

The himars procurement is an obvious example that the a West must listen to Ukraine.. they know what they need, but the delays are excruciating.

[tophat]

This is such excellent coverage. Hats off to the reporters.

[davidb]

Grateful for these podcasts! Thanks from the North East USA.

[dasgunt]

Love your reporting! Daily listener, so grateful for your awesome work!

[TheZeusflea]

This is the very best coverage of the war imho

[chrisminchin]

Yet again a very informative blog of what's happening at the sharp end of this terrible war in Ukraine, please keep up broadcast. Chris NZ

[Shadow-]

Keep in mind who started the war . It’s not Ukraine that started this nightmare.

Wayne from USA

[garyknowles]

Great coverage guys. Much appreciated.

[stevenreiff]

the bridge explosion was precisely timed. the resulting passing train fire wasn't coincidental.

[SteveWallis]

Great coverage, always listen to "Ukraine: The latest"

[Kekisch]

Thanks 👍 a lot for doing this work, helps a lot for the ucranians who leave outside ...like me in Costa Rica and we want to avoid the Russian propaganda .

[frankshifreen]

A commentator said that many of the hackers have left Russia to avoid the draft

[EdwardPike]

Spineless mercantile? Just say Elon Musk already.

[garyknowles]

Thanks for the update guys. What’s your thoughts on Belarus really getting involved?

[darrenbeck]

This is a brilliant podcast I listen to everyday. I saw it here on YouTube and just had to say how fantastic it is as I can't do that fora podcast.

[rebeccacabrera]

It looks like Ukraine is in it, to win it. What will it take to stop it? This is what we (Americans) needed when the Taliban moved back in to Afghanistan. Afghanistan security forces with the fighting spirit of the Ukrainians. Billions of our tax dollars went into that quick surrender. What an incredible waste of time, money, and life we put in, in support of the defense of people who didn't appreciate us. God bless Ukraine and those fighting and dieing to keep it the Ukraine.

[jlf]

Kamikazi is so descriptive: we understand it's not designed to return

[sprucemousse]

No one talks about that Poland has ATACMS. America hasn't given Ukraine any maybe someone else has

[riversidegardenradio]

The Investigative Committee of Russia has put out a lot of information regarding the Crimea bridge explosion which is not very typical of them but it is a super sensitive issue for the Russian people. This was a very complex scheme in which the final truck was involved only in the last leg of the operation. A container of palletes loaded with rolls of plastic left Odessa and went to Bolgaria. From there it was shipped to Georgia by water and from there went to Armenia. In Armenia the load cleared customs in accordance with the Eurasian Economic Union rules, I assume that's where the Armenian citizen came in who committed a crime by improperly clearing a shipment that had originated outside of the EEU. At that point completely new documents were issued indicating a new shipper and receiver. The load was placed on a truck and driven to Georgia and then Russia. It was delivered to a warehouse in Krasnodar region. On october 7 one of the suspects hired the truck and ordered a delivery to Crimea. With a brand new waybill. In Armenia the load was scanned, but the explosives didn't show up on the scan. So either the the rolls of plastic were effective in concealing it or the explosives used simply don't show on the type of scanning used. I have no doubt the ukranian SBU could design the scheme, but I have no doubt that they had "help" from certain organizations when it comes to the choice of explosive materials and the trick with the plastic rolls.

[HungryGhost]

Excellent commentary.”Paramedics burnt alive” really struck me 😣