'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Bretton Gordon looking at his new book about tanks and ask: given the lessons we’re learning from Ukraine, is his book out of date already, or released just in the nick of time?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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