Putin spends 50% of state budget on military, says intelligence service & Russia tests turning pigeons into drones
Ukraine: The Latest
Louisa Wells / Francis Dearnley
4.8 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 5 February 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Day 1,442.
Today, as reports suggest Russian troops are in turmoil across the frontline after being denied access to Starlink satellite communications, we return to Abu Dhabi for the latest developments in the ongoing trilateral peace talks between the United States, Ukraine, and Russia. We then hear live from Kyiv with firsthand reactions and descriptions of the situation on the ground, before turning to the Russian press for insight into the state of Russia’s economy – and an extraordinary story about Moscow’s efforts to turn pigeons into drones.
Contributors
Francis Dearnley (Executive Editor for Audio). @FrancisDearnley on X.
Dominic Nicholls (Associate Editor of Defence). @DomNicholls on X.
Antonia Langford (Journalist in Kyiv). @antonialford on X.
James Kilner (Foreign Correspondent). @jkjourno on X.
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Each week, Dom Nicholls and Francis Dearnley answer your questions, provide recommended reading, and give exclusive analysis and behind-the-scenes insights – plus maps of the frontlines and diagrams of weapons to complement our daily reporting. It’s free for everyone, including non-subscribers.
CONTENT REFERENCED:
Russia spends half its state budget on military (The Telegraph):
How Russia uses neural chips to turn live pigeons into drones (The Telegraph):
The last foreign correspondent to file from a war zone via carrier pigeon (Airmail):
https://airmail.news/issues/2024-7-27/the-view-from-here
Record-breaking Russian strikes during peace negotiations (Centre for Information Resilience):
Sanctions having ‘significant impact’ on Russian economy, says EU special envoy (The Guardian):
Keith Kellogg says he left Trump's White House to be 'free to talk' about Ukraine (Kyiv Independent):
Russia claims US 'ignored' offers to extend nuclear arms control agreement as key treaty set to expire (Kyiv Independent):
LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST IN NEW LANGUAGES:
The Telegraph has launched translated versions of Ukraine: The Latest in Ukrainian and Russian, making its reporting accessible to audiences on both sides of the battle lines and across the wider region, including Central Asia and the Caucasus. Just search Україна: Останні Новини (Ukr) and Украина: Последние Новости (Ru) on your on your preferred podcast app to find them. Listen here: https://linktr.ee/ukrainethelatest
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Telegraph. |
| 0:09.5 | I'm Francis Dernley, and this is Ukraine, the latest. |
| 0:13.8 | Today, as Russian troops are reportedly in turmoil across the front line as they're denied access to Starlink, |
| 0:19.5 | we return to Abu Dhabi for the latest from the ongoing trilateral peace talks. |
| 0:24.1 | Then we hear live from Kiev for the latest reaction and descriptions of the situation there |
| 0:28.3 | before hearing the latest from the Russian press, particularly on the state of the economy. |
| 0:34.2 | We then end with a remarkable story about how Russia might be trying to turn pigeons into drones. |
| 0:41.4 | Bravery takes you through the most unimaginable hardships to finally reward you with victory. |
| 0:50.7 | The Russia does not want fees. |
| 0:52.2 | First, we're fighting with our help for the Ukraine, |
| 0:56.0 | also our freedom and our European |
| 1:00.0 | Writers. |
| 1:01.0 | If I'm president, I will have that war settled in one day, 24 hours. |
| 1:05.0 | We are with you, not just today or tomorrow, but for a hundred years. |
| 1:10.0 | We can not, as European, |
| 1:12.2 | let's gain the Russia in Ukraine. |
| 1:14.3 | Nobody's going to break us. |
| 1:16.3 | We're strong. |
| 1:17.6 | Where Ukraine is. |
| 1:20.3 | It's Thursday, the 5th of February, |
| 1:22.7 | three years and 348 days since the full-scale invasion began. |
| 1:26.9 | And today, I'm joined by our Associate Editor of |
... |
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