France seizes Russian shadow fleet tanker & Ukrainian drones dominate skies over occupied cities

2026-06-01

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Day 1,557.Today, after a weekend that saw Russian ships hit by drones, hit by drones and hit by drones again, it ended with another Russian ship being seized by abseiling Frenchmen. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s “logistics lockdown” continued, leading to fuel rationing in Crimea and more Russian oil refineries self-sanctioning in very dramatic ways; no wonder Putin’s Finance Minister has said Russia’s spending on the war has gone two trillion rubles over budget.Contributors: Dom Nicholls (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @DomNicho...

Day 1,557.

Today, after a weekend that saw Russian ships hit by drones, hit by drones and hit by drones again, it ended with another Russian ship being seized by abseiling Frenchmen. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s “logistics lockdown” continued, leading to fuel rationing in Crimea and more Russian oil refineries self-sanctioning in very dramatic ways; no wonder Putin’s Finance Minister has said Russia’s spending on the war has gone two trillion rubles over budget.

Contributors:

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

Sophie O’Sullivan (Telegraph journalist).

Adelie Pojzman-Pontay (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @adeliepjz on X.

With thanks to Stergios-Aristoteles Mitoulis (Associate Professor of engineering at the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction at UCL). @DrMitoulis on X.

Producer: Rachel Porter

Senior Producer: Lilian Fawcett

Video Producer: Sophie O’Sullivan

Social Producer: Gezim Hilaj

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:

Russia overspends on Putin’s war in Ukraine by $28bn (The Financial Times)

https://www.ft.com/content/93674b5c-06ea-4e49-a005-dc08e1091574?syn-25a6b1a6=1

Inside the schools preparing Ukrainian children for war (The Telegraph)

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/05/31/inside-the-schools-preparing-ukrainian-children-for-war/

For more information on Professor Mitoulis’s work, follow the links below:

Bridge Ukraine: https://bridgeukraine.org/

Meta Infrastructure: https://metainfrastructure.org/

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.

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