'You will die in the mud,' Nato chief tells Russians & Poland demands permanent US base

Day 1,560.


Today, Sweden impounds a Russian cargo ship allegedly exporting
Ukrainian grain from occupied territories. Then, as images of the
results of yesterday’s Ukrainian strikes in and around St
Petersburg start to appear, Marco Rubio denies any knowledge at
all of a US delegation at the nearby economic forum, just as said
participants show that they really don’t like the press asking
them questions one little bit. Dom reports how Nato Secretary
General Mark Rutte has directly addressed Russian men, telling
them that if they go to fight in Ukraine “you’ll be left to
suffer in the mud and die”, and Lily looks at a tight vote in the
US House of Representatives over Ukraine funding that managed,
just, to get over the line. And later, we go hull down with
Hamish de Bretton Gordon looking at his new book about tanks and
ask: given the lessons we’re learning from Ukraine, is his book
out of date already, or released just in the nick of time?


Contributors: 


Dom Nicholls (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @DomNicholls on X.


Lily Shanagher (Telegraph journalist). @lilyshanagher on X.


With thanks to Hamish de Bretton-Gordon.


Producer: Phil Atkins


Senior Producer: Lilian Fawcett


Video Producer: Sophie O’Sullivan


Social Producer: Katie Inglis


Studio Director: Meghan Searle


Executive Editor: Francis Dearnley


Created by David Knowles


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/@UkraineTheLatest  


CONTENT REFERENCED:


Rebuilding U.S. Missile Inventory: A Multiyear Project (Centre
for Strategic and International Studies)


https://www.csis.org/analysis/rebuilding-us-missile-inventory-multiyear-project


'Heavy attack' hits Zaporizhzhia Thermal Power Plant, IAEA says
(Kyiv Independent)


https://kyivindependent.com/heavy-attack-hits-zaporizhzhia-thermal-power-plant-serving-russian-occupied-nuclear-plant-iaea-says/ 


Peter Magyar interview with Allgemeine Zeitung (in German)


https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/peter-magyar-im-interview-wo-orban-recht-hatte-accg-200892861.html


Hamish’s book Tank Command: How the Tank Changed the Face of
Battle is out now:


https://linktr.ee/TankCommand


Russia considers working age of 12 to solve wartime jobs crisis
(Antonia Langford for The Telegraph)


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/06/04/russia-considers-working-age-12-to-solve-wartime-job-crisis/


Putin is under pressure as the Ukraine war finally comes to
Moscow and St Petersburg (Hamish de Bretton-Gordon for The
Telegraph)


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/06/04/putin-russia-st-petersburg-drone-strikes-moscow-casualties/


EMAIL US:


Contact the team on ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk. We continue to
read every message, and seek to respond to as many on air and in
our newsletter as possible.


HIGHLIGHTS:


Sweden impounds a Russian cargo ship allegedly exporting
Ukrainian grain from occupied territories

US delegation at ‘Putin’s Davos’ refuses to speak to
journalists






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