logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2025
27m 9s

242. Battleground returns to Ukraine & a...

Goalhanger
About this episode
In this episode we return in person to Ukraine, but we start in Ukraine's neighbouring state of Moldova, a fellow former soviet republic where we were joined by friend of the podcast Julius Strauss and Kimberley Reczek. Prior to our arrival they had spent the day in Transnistria, a tiny breakaway region of Moldova which is effectively controlled by Russia, ... Show More
Up next
Feb 27
375. Ukraine’s Spring Surge
As we pass the fourth anniversary of Putin’s full-scale invasion, Patrick Bishop and Saul David explore whether the tide of the war is finally turning in Ukraine's favour. Following a winter of stasis, Ukrainian forces have reclaimed 400 square kilometres in mere weeks—outpacing ... Show More
35m 33s
Feb 25
374. Operation Eagle Claw: Disaster in the Desert
In the latest instalment of our Battleground: Special Forces series, Saul David and Patrick Bishop deconstruct one of the most ambitious and ill-fated missions in modern military history: Operation Eagle Claw. In April 1980, with 53 American diplomats held captive in the US Embas ... Show More
37m 53s
Feb 20
373. Battlefield Gains, Geneva Stalemates, and the "Helmet of Memory"
In this episode of Battleground Ukraine, Saul David and Roger Moorhouse break down a week of high-stakes diplomacy and unexpected battlefield shifts as the war approaches its four-year anniversary. The duo discusses the rapid collapse of the latest trilateral peace talks in Genev ... Show More
39m 3s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2025
How did the Vikings shape Russia and Ukraine?
The story of the Vikings who travelled to eastern Europe is just as thrilling as the story of those who headed west. It's also just as important – still being relevant today through deep rooted connections to the ongoing war in Ukraine. But what are those long-lasting links, exac ... Show More
45m 38s
Aug 2024
Ukraine takes the fight to Russia
For the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago, Ukrainian soldiers have advanced 30km inside Russia. President Zelensky says Ukraine is pushing the war onto "the aggressor's territory" in the Kursk region. What could this mean for the war? Vitaly Shevchenko, one of ... Show More
14m 19s
Mar 2025
33. Putin’s War: How Russian Intelligence Failed (Ep 3)
How did Russia’s invasion of Ukraine go so badly wrong? What crucial mistakes did the Kremlin make in the opening days? And why did Putin’s inner circle give him false intelligence about what would happen? When Russian forces rolled across the border with Ukraine in February 202 ... Show More
35m 29s
May 2024
War in Ukraine: Is Russia winning?
The war in Ukraine has turned from a relative stalemate to a major Russian offensive in the past few weeks. Several villages on Ukraine's north-eastern frontier near the city of Kharkiv have fallen under Moscow's control. Now overstretched Ukrainian troops are struggling to conta ... Show More
26m 21s
Aug 2024
Inside Ukraine’s Invasion of Russia
<p><i>Warning: this episode contains descriptions of war.</i></p><p>When Ukrainian troops crossed over into Russia two weeks ago, it appeared at first to be a largely symbolic gesture. But in the time since, it has emerged as a potentially pivotal moment in the war.</p><p>Andrew ... Show More
26m 36s
Jul 2024
I Will Show You How It Was: A Conversation with Illia Ponomarenko
After more than two years, the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine grinds on. Yet the Ukrainian spirit remains as unshakeable as ever. Illia Ponomarenko joins David Rothkopf to discuss his book, “I Will Show You How It Was,” and share how Ukrainians and the world can draw insp ... Show More
32m 39s
Aug 2024
On the ground in Kursk as Kyiv advances 35 kilometres into Russia
Day 913.Today, we hear from a journalist who was just on the ground with Ukrainian forces in Kursk, Russia, reflect on the latest battlefield and political developments, and look deeper into Putin’s recent foreign trips and ask what it tells us about the tensions in Russian socie ... Show More
49m 37s
Sep 2025
Petraeus: Unmanned killer submarines can win war for Ukraine & Kyiv assassinates another Russian officer
Day 1,315.Today, Ukraine assassinates a Russian senior officer from the National Guard and Moscow launches the biggest autumn conscription round since 2016. We look at Russian influence of European politics, from the UK to Hungary, and General David Petraeus offers his candid ref ... Show More
53m 54s
Sep 2025
President Zelensky on the path to peace in Ukraine; Finland’s President on being a bridge between the US and Europe; Russia’s kidnapping of Ukrainian children; A female soldier in a Ukraine tells her story
Today on the program, Fareed reports from Kyiv, where he is joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss Ukraine’s path to peace. Fareed asks if he would sit down with President Putin.Then, Fareed speaks with Finnish President Alexander Stubb about his unique role ... Show More
41m 13s
Oct 2025
Martyn Whittock, "Vikings in the East: From Vladimir the Great to Vladimir Putin – The Origins of a Contested Legacy in Russia and Ukraine" (Biteback, 2025)
In Western Europe, we typically associate Vikings with the storm-tossed waters of the North Sea and the North Atlantic, the deep Scandinavian fjords and the attacks on the monasteries and settlements of north-western Europe. This popular image rarely includes the river systems of ... Show More
1h 3m