100: Ukraine Conflict: French Arms Deal, Sabotage, and the Perilous Battle for Pokrovsk. Guest: John Hardy. John Hardy reported that Ukraine signed a letter of intent with France to obtain 100 Rafale warplanes over 10 years, along with air defense systems. Whi
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 18 November 2025
⏱️ 10 minutes
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Summary
John Hardie reported that Ukraine signed a letter of intent with France to obtain 100 Rafale warplanes over 10 years, along with air defense systems. While this partnership is encouraging, Hardy expressed concern that Ukraine is excessively over-diversifying its future air fleet (including F-16, Grippen, Mirage, and Rafale) which complicates long-term sustainment and maintenance. Simultaneously, alarming reports surfaced that sabotage was blamed for an explosion on a major railway line in Poland used to supply Ukraine, fitting a pattern of suspected Russian covert operations against European infrastructure. On the battlefield, fighting continues in Pokrovsk (Picro). Hardy warned that if Ukrainian forces prioritize a politically motivated hold, they risk the encirclement and destruction of troops in nearby areas. Poor weather, such as fog, plays a significant role in the conflict, as Russians often time assaults during these conditions to impede Ukrainian aerial reconnaissance and FPV drones.1855 CRIMEA
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is CBS, I on the World. I'm John Batchel. I welcome my colleague John Hardy of the Foundation for Defensive Democracies, eyes on the Ukraine conflict. We have good news. Ukraine signs a deal to obtain 100 French-made Rafael warplanes over the next 10 years. |
| 0:23.9 | This is a solid commitment from France and Ukraine for what appears to be the network of Ukrainian defense forces over many years ahead, |
| 0:35.1 | not looking for Ukraine to end its contest anytime soon, or to arm up in the |
| 0:42.0 | event that Russia prevails in the east of Ukraine so that it has important resources as it did |
| 0:48.5 | not when this war broke out. |
| 0:50.4 | I welcome John Hardy to comment on this good news, and at the same time, note that there is a report in Poland by Donald Tuts, the prime minister. |
| 1:01.2 | The headline is all we have. |
| 1:03.6 | Poland blames sabotage for blast on major railway line. |
| 1:08.1 | French prime, Polish prime minister, Donald Tus, stopped short of linking Moscow to |
| 1:13.7 | explosion. There's a photograph of men standing around a major rail line with an explosion that was |
| 1:19.5 | caused by a contact explosive. It was meant to destroy the railway. These two reports from Europe, |
| 1:26.2 | from different parts of Europe are both threatening and |
| 1:29.4 | at the same time sustaining because neither Poland nor France have written Ukraine off as a loss. |
| 1:37.3 | John, a very good evening to you. The French news is welcome. The Polish news is alarming. But I come |
| 1:43.6 | immediately to the question of the |
| 1:45.3 | battlefield. It would appear that Pekrovsk remains a hinge point for the whole region that Russia's |
| 1:52.6 | been assaulting for about a year. A week ago, there was a claim by Moscow that its soldiers had |
| 2:00.1 | entered Pekrovsk or the center of the city in some |
| 2:04.2 | fashion. And there was a video accompanying and a fog of various types of vehicles, most of them |
| 2:09.8 | without armor, rolling down a highway. What is our understanding of Pekrofts? What's going on |
| 2:16.5 | there right now after a year's siege? |
| 2:18.6 | Good evening to you, John. |
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