Battleground

In this episode, we arrive in Kharkiv following an overnight train from Odesa to find a city of stark contrasts. While residents carry flowers for International Women’s Day in the beautiful spring sunshine, the scars of war are everywhere, from bombed-out buildings to the distant sound of explosions.

We sit down with Public Affairs Officer at the Khartiia Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine, Volodymyr Dehtyarov discuss the evolving tactical landscape of the conflict. He details how Ukraine is adapting with a new, meticulous approach to urban operations that prioritises minimising casualties.

Key topics include:

The New Minister of Defence: Why the appointment of a young, tech-savvy leader is seen as a pivotal move for the Ukrainian military.

A New Way of Fighting: A deep dive into the recent operation in Kupiansk, where meticulous planning and drone-heavy tactics achieved a staggering 20-to-1 casualty ratio.

The Drone Revolution: How the battlefield has become "transparent and lethal," leading to the replacement of traditional armoured vehicles with fibre-optic aerial drones and unmanned ground vehicles for logistics and strikes.

Cognitive Warfare: The ongoing battle against Russian bot networks and the role of artificial intelligence in shaping public narrative and social division.

Julius Strauss writes the blog Back from the Front and also owns and runs Wild Bear Lodge, a bear-viewing lodge, in Canada. Here are the hyperlinks:

Substack: https://backfromthefront.substack.com/

Wild Bear Lodge: https://wildbearlodge.ca/

Join the Conversation: If you have a question about the war in Ukraine or any of the conflicts we cover, email us at [email protected]

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Producer: James Hodgson

A Goalhanger Podcast
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In this episode of Battleground Ukraine, Saul David and Patrick Bishop dive into the pivotal shifts of the Ukraine War in 2026. From groundbreaking naval drone warfare to the "murky" world of energy diplomacy, we analyse why the Kremlin’s narrative is starting to crumble under the weight of economic reality and technological innovation.

In this episode Saul and Patrick look at:


The Druzhba Pipeline & Hungary: Analysing new Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s proposal to drop the EU veto in exchange for Russian oil flow.


Russia’s Economic State: Why Swedish intelligence believes the Kremlin is hiding a massive budget gap and 15% inflation rate behind "massaged" data.


Military Technology Breakthroughs: The impact of the final SpaceX M-code satellite launch on Ukraine's precision strikes and the rise of "un-jammable" GPS.


Naval Drone Innovation: A world-first as Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces intercept a Russian Shahid drone using a surface vessel.


The Information War: Why Russian GRU hacking campaigns and disinformation failed to sway the Hungarian electorate.

Support the Show:
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Join the Conversation: If you have a question about the war in Ukraine or any of the conflicts we cover, email us at [email protected]

Follow us on:

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Producer: James Hodgson

A Goalhanger Podcast
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If you would like to watch this podcast you can watch it on Spotify or you can find it on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@BattlegroundUkraine

We return to the historic port city of Odesa to witness the stark contrast between a city trying to maintain a sense of normalcy and the high-tech, high-stakes reality of the front lines.

In this episode, we explore the brittle state of Ukraine's energy grid, the mood of the locals to help us understand the complex, sometimes ambivalent, moods of a population weary of conflict.

And, we go inside a civilian drone school to meet the soldiers of the 39th Marine Brigade. They share insights on:

The Drone Revolution: Why FPV (First Person View) drones are the "cooking pot" of modern military innovation and why they are now essential for successful assault operations.

A New Military Culture: The rise of "patronage services" providing mental and physical rehabilitation for wounded soldiers and their families.The

Recruitment Crisis: An honest look at why it is difficult to find motivated recruits and how the army is evolving to prioritise specialised skills over "Soviet-style" tactics.

Julius Strauss writes the blog Back from the Front and also owns and runs Wild Bear Lodge, a bear-viewing lodge, in Canada. Here are the hyperlinks:

Substack: https://backfromthefront.substack.com/

Wild Bear Lodge: https://wildbearlodge.ca/

Join the Conversation: If you have a question about the war in Ukraine or any of the conflicts we cover, email us at [email protected]

Follow us on:

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Instagram - podbattleground

Producer: James Hodgson

A Goalhanger Podcast
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A political earthquake has struck Budapest. After 16 years of dominance, Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz Party have been unseated in a resounding victory by Péter Magyar and the Tisza Party. With a historic 79% turnout and a two-thirds supermajority, the Hungarian landscape has been permanently altered—but what does this mean for the rest of the world?

In this comprehensive two-part special, host Patrick Bishop sits down with old friends and Hungarian experts Julius Strauss and Boldi Gyori to dissect a week that changed Europe.

We explore the sheer scale of the Tisza Party’s victory and how they overcame the "dirty tricks" of a quasi-autocracy.

Julius and Boldi share the ground-level emotion of the election and analyse what we can expect from Péter Magyar—a former Fidesz stalwart turned revolutionary.

We also examine the immediate ripples felt in Moscow, Brussels, and Washington.

Join the Conversation: If you have a question about the war in Ukraine or any of the conflicts we cover, email us at [email protected]

Follow us on:

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TikTok - battlegroundukraine

Producer: James Hodgson

A Goalhanger Podcast

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You can watch this video on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/Khbr9JD_q98

In this special episode from Ukraine, the Battleground team visits Odesa to document the devastating impact of Russia’s winter strategy on the city's critical infrastructure.

We go inside a key electrical substation—one of over 40 hit by drone attacks—to witness firsthand the "horrendous" damage caused by waves of Shaheed drones and speak with the resilient workers keeping the lights on in freezing conditions.

The episode also explores the war's "harder to see" wounds through a visit to a discreet clinic in Odesa. There, we meet Olga, a former London-based professional who returned home to establish a unique rehabilitation centre.

She shares her mission to treat the psychological trauma and physical scars of returning soldiers and their families, operating under extreme conditions where even the clinic’s location must remain a secret for safety.

If you would like to support Olga and her team you can do so here - https://www.caresukraine.com/vsesylini_donate/

Join the Conversation: If you have a question about the war in Ukraine or any of the conflicts we cover, email us at [email protected]

Follow us on:

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TikTok - battlegroundukraine

Producer: James Hodgson

A Goalhanger Podcast
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