Zelensky warns of ‘massive’ attack ahead of Sunday peace talks & rumours swirl of Ukraine-Russia energy ceasefire
Ukraine: The Latest
Louisa Wells / Francis Dearnley
4.8 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 29 January 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Day 1,435.
Today, as President Zelensky warns that Russia is preparing “a new massive strike”, we examine growing speculation that an undeclared truce may be in place regarding strikes on energy infrastructure. We then turn to the Russian press, where a local war memorial in the Urals appears to have inadvertently revealed the true scale of Russian casualties, and an unlikely scandal involving a baker that has caused fresh embarrassment for Vladimir Putin. And finally, we report on the launch of a new blood bank aimed at alleviating Ukraine’s mounting medical crises.
Contributors
Francis Dearnley (Executive Editor for Audio). @FrancisDearnley on X.
Dominic Nicholls (Associate Editor of Defence). @DomNicholls on X.
James Kilner (Foreign Correspondent). @jkjourno on X.
With thanks to Toby Illingworth (Founder & Head of Mission for Yashchenko Foundation). @tobyillingworth
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CONTENT REFERENCED:
Learn More about the Walking Blood Bank and the Yashchenko Foundation:
https://yashchenkofoundation.org/walking-blood-bank/
Putin abandons Syria base to court new Islamist leader (The Telegraph):
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/01/28/russia-abandons-syria-military-base/
Royal Navy forces Russian ship out of British waters (The Telegraph):
Exclusive: Trump's top envoy negotiating Ukraine's fate displays 'shocking' lack of knowledge about war (Kyiv Independent):
https://kyivindependent.com/trumps-top-envoy-displays-shocking-lack-of-knowledge-about-war-politics/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Telegraph. I'm Francis Dernley, and this is Ukraine, the latest. Today, as President Zelensky |
| 0:15.1 | warns Russia is preparing a new massive strike, we examine growing speculation that an undeclared truce may be in place |
| 0:23.2 | regarding strikes on energy infrastructure. Then we turn to the Russian press, where a local war |
| 0:29.2 | memorial in the Urals appears to have inadvertently revealed the true scale of Russian casualties, |
| 0:35.0 | and an unlikely scandal involving a baker that's caused fresh embarrassment |
| 0:40.3 | for Putin. |
| 0:41.3 | Finally, we report on the launch of a new blood bank aimed at alleviating Ukraine's mounting medical |
| 0:47.3 | crisis. |
| 0:48.3 | Bravery takes you through the most unimaginable hardships to finally reward you with victory. |
| 0:58.2 | The Russian does not want peace. |
| 0:59.9 | First, we're fighting, with our help for the Ukraine, also our freedom and our European |
| 1:07.5 | Writers. |
| 1:08.6 | If I'm president, I will have that war settled in one day, 24 hours. |
| 1:12.6 | We are with you, not just today or tomorrow, but for a hundred years. |
| 1:17.6 | We can not, as European, let's gain the Russia in Ukraine. |
| 1:21.6 | Nobody's going to break us. |
| 1:23.6 | We're strong. |
| 1:24.6 | Where Ukraine is. |
| 1:35.0 | It's Thursday, the 29th of January, three years and 341 days since the full-scale invasion began. |
| 1:40.3 | And today I'm joined by our Associate Editor of Defense, Dominic Nichols, our Russia analyst, James Kilner, |
| 1:45.5 | and dialing in from Ukraine, Toby Ilingworth, head of mission at the Eschenko Foundation. |
| 1:49.1 | First, though, over to Dom, for the latest in the military realm. |
... |
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