Exclusive: Russian commanders charging up to $40,000 to spare soldiers from the frontlines in Ukraine & ‘You’re not evil’: Trump unveils Board of Peace
Ukraine: The Latest
Louisa Wells / Francis Dearnley
4.8 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 20 February 2026
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Day 1,457.
Today, amid reports that Russian forces’ loss of Starlink is reducing the intensity of drone attacks along the frontline, we examine claims that Russian commanders are charging soldiers up to £30,000 to avoid deployment to the most dangerous sectors. We then bring you the latest from the first meeting of Donald Trump’s so-called “Board of Peace”, and finally hear the view from Belarus as Putin seeks to place more nuclear missiles there.
Contributors
Dominic Nicholls (Associate Editor of Defence). @DomNicholls on X.
Francis Dearnley (Executive Editor for Audio). @FrancisDearnley on X.
Rozina Sabur (National Security Editor). @RozinaSaburon X.
With thanks to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
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CONTENT REFERENCED:
US presses NATO for major reset, ending mission in Iraq (The Telegraph):
Russian commanders demand £30k to spare soldiers from front line (The Telegraph):
Over 1,000 Kenyans enlisted to fight in Russia-Ukraine war, report says (BBC):
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce8w266769go
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Telegraph. |
| 0:09.3 | I'm Francis Dernley, and this is Ukraine, the latest. |
| 0:13.7 | Today, amid reports, Russian forces' loss of Starlink is reducing the intensity of drone attacks along the front line. |
| 0:19.8 | We examine claims that Russian commanders are charging soldiers up to £30,000 to avoid |
| 0:25.8 | deployment in the most dangerous sectors. |
| 0:28.4 | We then bring you the latest from the first meeting of Donald Trump's so-called |
| 0:31.2 | Board of Peace. |
| 0:32.4 | And finally, hear the view from Belarus as Putin seeks to place more nuclear warheads there. |
| 0:39.3 | Bravery takes you through the most unimaginable hardships to finally reward you with victory. |
| 0:48.6 | The Russian does not want peace. |
| 0:50.2 | First, we're fighting with our help for the Ukraine, also our freedom and our European |
| 0:57.2 | Werte. |
| 0:59.0 | If I'm president, I will have that war settled in one day, 24 hours. |
| 1:03.0 | We are with you, not just today or tomorrow, but for a hundred years. |
| 1:07.9 | We can't as European, let let's gain the Russia in Ukraine. |
| 1:12.3 | Nobody's going to break us. |
| 1:14.3 | We're strong. |
| 1:15.6 | We're Ukrainians. |
| 1:18.9 | It's Friday, the 20th of February, |
| 1:21.4 | three years and 362 days since the full-scale invasion began. |
| 1:25.5 | And today, I'm joined by our associate editor of defense, Dominion Nichols. And later, you'll hear our national security editor, Razina Saboor's |
| 1:31.6 | final interview from the Munich Security Conference with the exiled Belarusian leader, |
... |
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