Spy chief Budanov named as new Head of Zelensky’s Office as Russia falls for assassination ploy

Spy chief Budanov named as new Head of Zelensky’s Office as Russia falls for assassination ploy

Day 1,408.

At the start of the fifth calendar year of the full scale invasion, attacks across Ukraine saw the beginning of 2026 marked with yet more death, injury and destruction across Ukraine. It has also seen General Budanov named as Andrii Yermak’s replacement, a remarkable double-cross operation by Budanov’s military intelligence department and a rebuttal by the CIA into claims by Moscow earlier this week that Ukraine tried to attack Putin directly. We report how Australian tanks have been in action around Pokrovsk, Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov has been rushed to hospital and Finnish authorities have boarded and seized a Russian vessel in the Baltic. Plus, we have an interview with a journalist looking at Colombian fighters who have joined Ukraine’s foreign legion.


Contributors

Dominic Nicholls (Associate Editor of Defence). @DomNicholls on X.

Adélie Pojzman-Pontay (Journalist and Producer). @adeliepjz on X.

With thanks to Natalie Gallon (Journalist). @natalielgallon on Insta.


SIGN UP TO THE ‘UKRAINE: THE LATEST’ WEEKLY NEWSLETTER:

http://telegraph.co.uk/ukrainenewsletter

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:

Colombian soldiers fighting for Ukraine, WLRN

https://www.wlrn.org/americas/2025-10-28/ukraine-russia-war-colombia-soldiers


A Colombian amputee soccer player’s new battle in Ukraine, WLRN

https://www.wlrn.org/americas/2025-10-29/ukraine-russia-war-colombian-soldiers-soccer-amputee


Frontline report: Australian Abrams tanks enter combat at Pokrovsk, bolstering Ukrainian counterattacks

https://euromaidanpress.com/2026/01/01/frontline-report-2025-12-31/


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Episoder(1062)

Putin waits until Kyiv hits -20C before knocking out power with missiles & FIFA president calls for lifting Russia sports ban

Putin waits until Kyiv hits -20C before knocking out power with missiles & FIFA president calls for lifting Russia sports ban

Day 1,440.Today, as Ukrainians endure temperatures of minus -20 degrees Celsius and Russia marks the end of its so-called “energy ceasefire” with a new mass aerial attack, we ask what is stopping Dona...

3 Feb 49min

Putin’s forces trying to ‘bypass and infiltrate’ frontline city & was Epstein's ‘sex empire’ a Russian honeytrap?

Putin’s forces trying to ‘bypass and infiltrate’ frontline city & was Epstein's ‘sex empire’ a Russian honeytrap?

Day 1,439.Today, as Vladimir Putin’s so-called “energy ceasefire” is reportedly broken once again, we report on another weekend of devastating Russian strikes on Ukraine – including an attack that kil...

2 Feb 42min

Civilians killed as Trump announces ‘energy ceasefire’ ahead of resumed peace talks

Civilians killed as Trump announces ‘energy ceasefire’ ahead of resumed peace talks

Day 1,436.Today, as Donald Trump announces an “energy ceasefire” we ask: what it means, has it started and can it hold. Our correspondent in Turkey tells us China is supplying critical components of R...

30 Jan 47min

Zelensky warns of ‘massive’ attack ahead of Sunday peace talks & rumours swirl of Ukraine-Russia energy ceasefire

Zelensky warns of ‘massive’ attack ahead of Sunday peace talks & rumours swirl of Ukraine-Russia energy ceasefire

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 infras...

29 Jan 48min

Drones strike Ukrainian passenger train in ‘act of terrorism’  & Russia suffers more losses ‘than any major power since WW2’

Drones strike Ukrainian passenger train in ‘act of terrorism’ & Russia suffers more losses ‘than any major power since WW2’

Day 1,434.Today, as Russia kills five civilians in a drone attack targeting a passenger train in Ukraine, we report on how a senior European diplomat has said the world must call this what it is: terr...

28 Jan 51min

Putin's negotiators ‘soften hardline stance in private’ & Trump links security guarantees to Zelensky ceding territory

Putin's negotiators ‘soften hardline stance in private’ & Trump links security guarantees to Zelensky ceding territory

Day 1,433.Today, amid increased Russian military pressure in the Donbas, and as Ukraine faces what the NATO Secretary General calls its “harshest winter for a decade”, we bring you the latest from the...

27 Jan 40min

Zelensky: US security guarantees ‘100% ready’ & Russian city hit with ‘most massive’  strike of the war

Zelensky: US security guarantees ‘100% ready’ & Russian city hit with ‘most massive’ strike of the war

Day 1,432.Today, as Kyiv endures sub-zero temperatures, we report on Russia’s latest mass aerial attack on the city, carried out even as trilateral so-called peace talks were taking place in Abu Dhabi...

26 Jan 59min

US joins Russia and Ukraine in first trilateral talks of the war & Trump under fire for claiming NATO allies ‘avoided’ Afghanistan frontline

US joins Russia and Ukraine in first trilateral talks of the war & Trump under fire for claiming NATO allies ‘avoided’ Afghanistan frontline

Day 1,429.Today, as President Trump prompts further outrage with his claim NATO troops “avoided the frontline” in Afghanistan, we consider whether President Zelensky was right to call out Europe in hi...

23 Jan 55min

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