Battleground

Around 95% of international internet traffic, as well as vast amounts of energy and data, travels through fibre-optic cables and pipelines resting silently on the ocean floor. Despite being the invisible backbone of modern civilisation, this critical infrastructure remains largely unprotected and increasingly vulnerable to hybrid warfare and deliberate sabotage.

In this episode of The Big Picture, host Roger welcomes Elisabeth Braw, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and author of The Undersea War: Ancient Law, Modern Sabotage, and the Struggle for the Ocean Floor.

Together, they dive deep into the hidden vulnerabilities of our global maritime order, discussing:

The Invisible Backbone: How a network of subsea cables—dating back to Victorian-era telegraph lines—powers our modern daily existence.
Modern Sabotage & Shadow Fleets: Real-world case studies of subsea damage, including the cutting of Taiwan’s Matsu Islands cables and the "Christmas Day Massacre" in the Gulf of Finland involving the Russian-linked vessel Eagle S.
Legal Grey Zones: Why UNCLOS (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea) and current international maritime law struggle to hold bad actors accountable in Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs).
Private Tech Giants as Cable Owners: The geopolitical implications of tech giants like Meta, Google, and Amazon owning subsea infrastructure—and the risks of private cyber-retaliation.
A Path Forward: Braw’s proposal for an International Seabed Protection Alliance and a tribute to the "cable surgeons" who repair damaged infrastructure under extreme conditions.

Join the Conversation: If you have a question about the war in Ukraine or any of the conflicts we cover, email us at podbattleground@gmail.com
Follow us on:
X - @PodBattleground
Instagram - podbattleground
Producer: James Hodgson
A Goalhanger Podcast
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As winter approaches, Ukraine faces escalating pressure on both the battlefield and the diplomatic front. In this episode, Patrick Bishop and Saul David unpack alarming allegations from Kyiv that the U.S. government—via Starshield speed restrictions—temporarily crippled Ukraine's ability to track fast-moving ballistic missiles and coordinate frontline operations.
The hosts analyse President Trump’s campaign to pressure President Zelenskyy into halting deep strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, alongside field reports on the grim conditions inside the fortress city of Sloviansk and the relentless drone threat in Kyiv.

Also in this episode:
Cyber Warfare Update: David Alexander breaks down recent Ukrainian drone strikes hitting Russia's primary cloud service provider, Yandex, and the arrest of a pro-Kremlin disinformation blogger in Montenegro.
Listener Q&A: Patrick and Saul answer questions on whether Europe can ever truly bridge the massive intelligence and satellite gap left by the U.S., and examine how Russia is steadily losing its geopolitical hegemony in the South Caucasus and Central Asia.

Join the Conversation: If you have a question about the war in Ukraine or any of the conflicts we cover, email us at podbattleground@gmail.com
Follow us on:
X - @PodBattleground
Instagram - podbattleground
Producer: James Hodgson
A Goalhanger Podcast
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Battleground The Big Picture, host Patrick Bishop is joined by Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Centre for Civil Liberties and recipient of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.

Oleksandra discusses the immense human toll of Russia's war on Ukraine, detailing how her team has documented over 100,000 war crimes while striving to return names and dignity to the victims. The conversation explores the urgent push to establish a special international tribunal for the crime of aggression to hold Vladimir Putin and his leadership accountable, the limitations and failures of existing global structures like the International Criminal Court and the United Nations, and the profound resilience of ordinary people in the face of global turbulence.

Tune in for a powerful and thought-provoking discussion on how we can forge a new architecture of international justice, why Europe must move beyond "the weakness of the powerful," and why the defence of human rights matters for the future of the entire world.

Join the Conversation: If you have a question about the war in Ukraine or any of the conflicts we cover, email us at podbattleground@gmail.com
Follow us on:
X - @PodBattleground
Instagram - podbattleground
Producer: James Hodgson
A Goalhanger Podcast
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special edition of the Battleground podcast, host Saul David catches up with intrepid Hungarian war reporter Boldizsár Győri following his recent three-week, cross-country journey through Ukraine.

From the shifting, higher-risk atmosphere in Kyiv under new high-speed drone and ballistic threats to a rare media visit inside a Western Ukrainian prisoner of war camp, Boldizsár shares firsthand accounts of what life looks like on the ground. They also dive deep into the brutal conditions in the eastern fortress belt—discussing the intense realities of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, and an extraordinary visit to the historic Sviatohirsk Monastery caught in the crossfire—alongside a sober look at the latest international diplomatic efforts and the realities of modern artillery and electronic warfare.

Key Topics Covered:
The New Face of Air Defence & Drones in Kyiv: How faster, AI-assisted Geran drones and new weapon systems have changed the atmosphere and caution levels in the capital.
POW Camps vs. Russian Prisons: A stark contrast between conditions for Russian POWs in a Western Ukrainian facility and the harrowing imprisonment experienced by a Ukrainian journalist held in Russia.
Life in the East: The perilous conditions in Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, dwindling civilian populations, and the frontline work of signal intelligence, Caesar howitzers, and HIMARS units.
The Sviatohirsk Monastery: Visiting centuries-old Orthodox monks and nuns living and surviving amid the ongoing frontline crossfire.
Geopolitics & Ceasefires: Evaluating the feasibility of proposed energy ceasefires and the current outlook on international support.

Join the Conversation: If you have a question about the war in Ukraine or any of the conflicts we cover, email us at podbattleground@gmail.com
Follow us on:
X - @PodBattleground
Instagram - podbattleground
Producer: James Hodgson
A Goalhanger Podcast
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ukraine’s war with Russia continues to evolve. Roger Moorhouse and Saul David examine Ukraine’s latest gains around Lyman, Russia’s increasingly aggressive “grey-zone” tactics, and the growing threat of the conflict spreading beyond Ukraine.

They also discuss a major German spy scandal, the possibility of a new front in the Baltics, Russia’s costly “meat assaults”, Ukraine’s rapidly developing drone warfare, and whether the war could continue beyond Trump’s presidency.

Join the Conversation: If you have a question about the war in Ukraine or any of the conflicts we cover, email us at podbattleground@gmail.com
Follow us on:
X - @PodBattleground
Instagram - podbattleground
Producer: James Hodgson
A Goalhanger Podcast
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.