Pentagon 'asks Ukraine for help' to shoot down Iranian weapons & Putin swells regular Russian army to 2.4 million men
Ukraine: The Latest
Louisa Wells / Francis Dearnley
4.8 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 5 March 2026
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Day 1,470.
Today, as the Pentagon and at least one Gulf state are revealed to be in talks with Kyiv to buy Ukrainian-made interceptors to fend off attacks by Iranian drones, we look at the latest expansion of the Russian armed forces, before looking at what Moscow is telling its population about the war in the Middle East. Then we bring you an exclusive interview with the French Ambassador to Ukraine to hear how prepared they are for boots on the ground.
Contributors:
Francis Dearnley (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @FrancisDearnley on X.
Dominic Nicholls (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @DomNicholls on X.
Adelie Pojzman-Pontay (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @Adeliepjz on X.
James Kilner (Russian Analyst). @Jkjourno on X.
With thanks to the French Ambassador to Ukraine, Gaël Veyssière.
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/channel/UCdHjleMvPSs-JEjiQ8_D2cA
CONTENT REFERENCED:
France and Germany dash Ukraine’s hopes of fast-track EU membership (The Telegraph):
Putin is failing: these charts prove it (Washington Post): https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/03/04/russia-ukraine-war-territorial-gains-putin/
Anniversary of the occupation of the ZNPP: sanctions should cover the entire Rosatom ecosystem (dixigroup):
Exclusive: Ukraine's F-16 jets were starved of US-made missiles for weeks (Reuters):
Pentagon eyes Ukrainian interceptor drones to counter Iran (Financial Times):
https://www.ft.com/content/d077e9c6-1573-46dc-8658-3db3aaf7cdfb?shareType=nongift
Ukraine Unbroken: 5 short plays by acclaimed writers about Ukraine’s resilience, now on at the Arcola Theatre in London until March 28::
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Telegraph. |
| 0:09.4 | I'm Francis Dernley, and this is Ukraine, the latest. |
| 0:13.6 | Today, as the Pentagon and at least one Gulf state are revealed to be in talks with |
| 0:17.7 | Kiv to buy Ukrainian-made interceptors to fend off attacks by Iranian drones, |
| 0:22.7 | we look at the latest expansion of the Russian armed forces |
| 0:25.8 | before assessing what Moscow is telling its population about war in the Middle East. |
| 0:31.5 | Then we bring you an exclusive interview with the French ambassador to Ukraine, |
| 0:35.5 | to hear how prepared France is for boots on the ground. |
| 0:40.4 | Bravery takes you through the most unimaginable hardships to finally reward you with victory. |
| 0:49.8 | The Russia does not want peace. |
| 0:51.3 | First, we're fighting with our help for the Ukraine also our freedom and our European Wences. If I'm president, I will have that war settled in one day, 24 hours. We are with you, not just today or tomorrow, but for a hundred years. We can't as European |
| 1:11.0 | let's gain the Russia in Ukraine. |
| 1:13.5 | Nobody's going to break us. |
| 1:15.5 | We're strong. |
| 1:16.7 | We're Ukrainians. |
| 1:19.4 | It's Thursday, the 5th of March, |
| 1:21.8 | four years and nine days |
| 1:23.1 | since the full-scale invasion began. |
| 1:25.0 | And today, I'm joined by my co-hosts |
| 1:26.8 | Dominic Nichols and Adelaouchevon |
| 1:28.3 | in Ukraine and our Russia analyst, James Kilner. First, over to Dom, for the latest in the military realm. |
| 1:39.1 | Well, I, Francis, hello, James. So let's start on Monday. Let's go back in time. You may remember we were talking about that Ukrainian strike on Novoreseek, Russia's Black Sea port, now they've been kicked out of Crimea. |
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