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Few matters of foreign and defence policy are as consequential to any post-election

British government than the war in Ukraine.

The expectation of a quick Russian win back in 2022 was replaced by the expectation of a successful

Ukrainian counteroffensive in 23, and now by a growing feeling this spring that the Russians

are successfully grinding the Ukrainians down.

So what is the position?

Is it true, as some commentators have begun to suggest, that the Russians are now winning? Step inside the briefing room and together we'll find out. First, what is the mood

in Ukraine, both on the front line and among the people? James Waterhouse is the BBC's

Ukraine correspondent and joins us from Kiev. James Waterhouse, what's the mood of the Ukrainian

people at the moment? Has it changed at all recently? I think there are two layers to this answer

in that, of course you have that stoicism throughout Ukraine. Of course,

you have that concrete ideology of wanting to remain a democratic country free of Russia's grasp.

And nothing has changed in that respect. You know, I remember asking people in 2022, in January

of 2022, saying, well, look, you know, if the so-called unthinkable happened, would you fight? And there are many that said, yeah, I would. Men and women. And we know with the outbreak of the full-scale invasion, when they queued up in their tens of thousands and were given automatic weapons and headed to the front lines,

that they meant it. Whilst, of course, Ukraine wants to swerve any kind of defeat or compromise

to Russia, there are politics that are starting to seep in to that resolve. You just need to

look at President Zelensky's arm wrestle with trying to mobilize enough men for the fight, because we are long past that period of volunteering.

You now have men petrified, in some cases of being called up, being sent to typically places far from where they live, perhaps, places that have been reduced to rubble, places where it is Russia with momentum, and places where your life expectancy, if you're on the front line,

is not long. And that will inevitably feed into a potential appetite to keep fighting. But I think

for now, as we speak, David, it translates to an overarching difficulty. Things are just

difficult. Everyone knows what is going on. Everyone knows they're showing the spotlight with another

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