I'm David Nolz, and this is Ukraine, the latest. Today, we continue our reporting from

the ground in Donbass with Roland Oliphant. We bring you diplomatic updates from across

the world, and we discuss the role of the Russian Orthodox Church and its ties to the

Kremlin. This hideous and barbaric venture of Vladimir Putin must end in failure. Putin's war

in Ukraine has destabilized energy markets the world over. Nobody is going to break us. We're

strong. We're Ukrainians. Every week day afternoon, we sit down with leading journalists

from the Telegraphs London Newsroom, that our team is reporting on the ground, to bring

the latest news and analysis on the war in Ukraine. It's Wednesday, the 1st of February,

day 343. And with me to discuss the most recent events in Ukraine, I'm joined by our associate

editor Dominic Nichols. From Donbass, senior foreign correspondent Roland Oliphant, our

assistant comment editor francisternally, and our guest is analyst and researcher Olga

Lautmann, a senior fellow at SEPA that's the Centre for European Policy Analysis and

Host of the Kremlin Fire Podcast.

Don Nichols, can I come to you? What have you been looking at?

The area that Donbass, where Roland is, is incredibly violent at the moment, and very confusing.

So differing reports about the town of Bakmut, which is a major crossroads in the East

and Donbass. Russia has claimed that it is in Sir Kling, not has in Sir Kold, but is

in Sir Kling, Bakmut. I think that's what we've been seeing for the last few days, but

I mean, it's not completely encircled. They're trying to take control of the highway

connecting that city to Chasiviar, where Roland's been reporting from in recent days. Looking

at the Institute for the Study of War, US-based think tank, they're saying that the Bakmut

is still very violent and that the Wagner group, although they culminated, which is the

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