Ukraine: The Latest

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 [email protected] . 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.
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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?article77848
Personal Website: colinlebedev.fr

Jude 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/m002q5dk

Ukraine 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 [email protected] . 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 [email protected] . 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.

Day 1,513.
Today, as Hungary’s new prime minister Péter Magyar signals he will not veto the €90 billion European Union loan for Ukraine – and Slovakia’s opposition to the package appears to be crumbling – we ask whether Brussels can finally get the funding approved. We report on a continued surge in Ukrainian airstrikes against high-value Russian targets, and consider whether the air war in Russia’s war against Ukraine is beginning to tilt in Kyiv’s favour. We also examine developments in Ukraine’s domestic politics, as former presidential aide Andriy Yermak faces scrutiny from the country’s anti-corruption authorities. And later, we bring you a special interview from Adélie’s recent trip to Ukraine with Asami Terajima on the military’s efforts to prevent troops going AWOL and visiting a Kharkiv morgue.

Contributors:
Dominic Nicholls (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @DomNicholls on X.
Francis Dearnley (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @FrancisDearnley on X.
Adelie Pojzman-Pontay (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @Adeliepjz on X.
With thanks to Asami Terajima – frontline reporter at the Kyiv Independent.

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:
Top Zelensky allies Yermak, Arakhamia targeted in new searches, summons, source says (Kyiv Independent):
https://kyivindependent.com/yermak/

The Mushroom Captivating Wartime Ukraine (New Lines):
https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/the-mushroom-captivating-wartime-ukraine/

Russian air defenses are collapsing. Now Ukrainian warplanes can hit harder (Euromaidan):
https://euromaidanpress.com/2026/04/15/donetsk-airport-raid/

Inside Ukraine's AWOL and military desertion crisis
https://kyivindependent.com/inside-ukraines-awol-and-desertion-crisis/

As Ukraine war deaths mount, Kharkiv morgue strains to identify the truth
https://kyivindependent.com/you-cant-turn-off-your-emotion-inside-a-ukrainian-morgue-as-war-deaths-mount/

Coming of age during war, where mistakes can cost a life
https://kyivindependent.com/coming-of-age-during-war-where-mistakes-can-cost-a-life/

War Notes Newsletter
https://kyivindependent.com/newsletters/war-notes/

The Kyiv Independent doesn’t have a paywall or an owner and is supported by a
community of readers who make this work possible: https://kyivindependent.com/membership/?utm_source=membership-offline-arcola-theatre&utm_medium=offline&utm_campaign=pr

EMAIL US:
Contact the team on [email protected] . 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.

Day 1,512.
Today, as Russian forces suffer more than 35,000 casualties in Ukraine in a single month – the highest rate of the war so far – we report on fresh strikes across Ukraine that have killed at least 17 civilians, including a 12 year old boy. We assess the outcome of the latest Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting at Ramstein Air Base, and examine the dramatic first moves of Hungary’s new prime minister, who has vowed to shut down state television, describing it as “North Korean-style propaganda”. And later, we bring you the latest from Russia, including reaction in Moscow to the political fall of Viktor Orbán.

Contributors:
Francis Dearnley (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @FrancisDearnley on X.
Adelie Pojzman-Pontay (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @Adeliepjz 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:
Child among 14 killed in Russian strikes (The Telegraph):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/16/wave-of-russian-strikes-kills-14-in-ukraine/

Ukraine’s drones dent Russia’s war-fuelled oil windfall (Financial Times):
https://www.ft.com/content/d49e288f-b74e-44a8-a2f3-ec87f7cb5c27?syn-25a6b1a6=1

‘The pope versus the president: how Leo became Trump’s fearless foe’ (Financial Times):
https://www.ft.com/content/4f67aa87-9210-402d-bfef-b71b294d65cb?syn-25a6b1a6=1

Pope Pius II’s memoirs (Vol. I; Harvard University Press):
https://itatti.harvard.edu/publications/commentaries

The Border by Erika Fatland:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57950362-the-border

EMAIL US:
Contact the team on [email protected] . 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.