Battleground

As the brutal conflict continues, Ukraine is fighting a war on multiple fronts—not just in the trenches, but internally within the corridors of power against a long-standing weapon of Kremlin information warfare: the accusation of irredeemable corruption.

In this episode, hosts Saul David and Julius Strauss sit down in Kyiv with Andrii Borovyk, the executive director of Transparency International Ukraine, for a brutally honest assessment of where the country stands today. Borovyk pulls back the curtain on the Global Corruption Perception Index, exploring how Ukraine remarkably managed to stabilize and even improve its score during wartime—a feat virtually unheard of for a nation in conflict.

The conversation dives deep into the high-stakes friction between wartime efficiency and democratic transparency, covering:


The Reality of the Index: Exactly where Ukraine sits globally, how its score compares to neighbours like Hungary and Slovakia, and why the metric is about external perception rather than a direct measurement of ground-level corruption.


The High-Stakes U-Turn: The dramatic, late-night political maneuvering surrounding a controversial bill aimed at bringing anti-corruption agencies under political control, the ensuing public protests, and the resulting erosion of international trust.


Watchdogging under Fire: How Transparency International Ukraine operates on the policy and legislative levels, saves millions for the state budget through public procurement monitoring, and the institutional distrust surrounding agencies like the State Bureau of Investigations.


The Leadership Report Card: A candid evaluation of Ukrainian leadership—from Yanukovych to Poroshenko and Zelenskyy—in their historical and current fights against corruption.


The Path Forward: The heavy influence of international leverage (like the EU and IMF) on pushing reforms forward, and a sobering look at Ukraine's post-war future, demographic challenges, and shifting immigration needs.

Julius Strauss writes the blog Back from the Front and also owns and runs Wild Bear Lodge, a bear-viewing lodge, in Canada. Check out both in the links below:

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, Roger Moorhouse and Saul David analyse a week defined by Russian escalation, psychological warfare, and deep structural fractures behind the frontline.

The Kremlin has intensified its campaign of domestic terror, launching a brutal round of strikes against Kyiv. Among the targets was the newly refurbished Chornobyl Museum—a deeply symbolic attack on historical truth and memory. Russia's deployment of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik ballistic missile has drawn fierce international condemnation, with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas slamming it as "reckless nuclear brinkmanship."

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned US diplomats to evacuate the capital ahead of planned "systematic strikes"—a move the team discusses as classic coercive diplomacy designed to fracture Western support. The hosts also unpack the murky diplomatic fallout surrounding a deadly strike on a dormitory in occupied Starobilsk, a location that carries chilling historical echoes of the 1940 Katyn Massacres.

Despite Russia's aggressive rhetoric, the strategic picture tells a different story. Ukraine’s targeted long-range drone strategy continues to bite, successfully shutting down the massive Syzran oil refinery deep inside Russian territory and shifting battlefield momentum. This pressure is exposing cracks within Moscow itself, as reports emerge of an unprecedented split between "hawks" and "doves" among Russia's elite military analyst class.

Finally, Roger and Saul dive into the listener mailbag to answer your questions on:


Whether Russian electronic jamming is sending Ukrainian drones off-course into civilian buildings.


The legal complexities and political fallout surrounding third-party Russian oil sanctions.


The terrifying reality of Putin's nuclear brinkmanship.


Whether the high-tech, 20-to-1 casualty ratio achieved in Kupiansk can be replicated across the entire front line.

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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On their final night in Kharkiv, Saul, Boldi, Kim, and Julius gather for a debrief to reflect on a city caught between extreme opposites. Fresh off an overnight train from Odesa, they arrived just in time for International Women’s Day—witnessing a blue-sky celebration of smiles and flowers juxtaposed against the smoking ruins of a freshly struck residential building.

They dive deep into the unique friction of daily life in Kharkiv, where air sirens have become a permanent backdrop to existence. They share extraordinary firsthand accounts from the ground, including:



A Surreal Encounter: The story of a traumatised survivor pushing a fistful of valuable Russian rubles toward them, declaring that the currency must have dropped straight out of the bomb.



The Kupiansk Dynamic: A look at the fluid, nearby front lines where Ukrainian forces are currently encircling the last holdouts of Russian troops.



Institutional Hurdles: A candid discussion on the Ukrainian army’s struggle to scale innovation from elite units like the Khartiia brigade down to the "no-name" brigades.



The Russian Way of War: An analysis of Russia's ability to learn as an organisation over a long war, balanced against their history of devastating troop losses.

Finally, the team explores the evolving and complex role of women on the front lines. From a compelling interview with Katya—a special operations soldier who warns that Kyiv is now the more dangerous destination—to a Khartiia brigade story about female staff members turning down traditional Women's Day gifts in favour of a day on the rifle range, this episode highlights the unbreakable, "reinforced concrete" character of the Ukrainian people.

The team wraps up as they prepare to catch an early morning train to Kyiv to see what the next chapter of their journey holds.

Julius Strauss writes the blog Back from the Front and also owns and runs Wild Bear Lodge, a bear-viewing lodge, in Canada. Check out both in the links below:

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a chilling question has continuously loomed over the international community: how real is the threat of a nuclear escalation? While the nuclear dimension has historically overshadowed the conflict, the rules of engagement and atomic posturing are constantly shifting.

In this episode, host Roger Moorhouse sits down with one of the world's leading nuclear experts, Matt Korda, to pull back the curtain on the subtle, dangerous games of atomic signalling being played by both sides.

Korda breaks down the stark contrast between Vladimir Putin’s aggressive public rhetoric and NATO’s quieter, tactical show of force—from Cold War-style bomber flights along borders to the rare surfacing of a US ballistic missile submarine off the coast of Norway.

Together, they explore:


The Art of Moving Goalposts: How NATO successfully calling Putin’s bluffs on supposed "red lines" (like sending tanks and aircraft) has redefined the perceived limits of nuclear deterrence.


Russia's Evolving Nuclear Doctrine: An inside look at the text of Moscow's updated criteria for nuclear deployment, including its expansive shift toward countering conventional threats.


The Belarus Mirror: What Russia’s deployment of nuclear weapons to Belarus actually means for international law, and whether it echoes the US/NATO hosting agreements.


An Arsenal in Disrepair: The alarming state of Russia's degrading infrastructure under the weight of sanctions, poor quality control, and recent high-profile failures—including the Sarmat ICBM exploding inside its own launch silo.

Don't miss this clear-eyed, gripping analysis of a subject that continues to shape global security.

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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Four years and three months into a "five-day special military operation" that has dragged on as long as the First World War, Vladimir Putin continues to display a troubling resilience. In this episode of Battleground Ukraine, hosts Patrick Bishop and Saul David peel back the diplomatic theatre surrounding Putin’s high-profile summit in Beijing.

While the body language suggests genuine warmth between Putin and Xi Jinping , the hosts expose the stark reality: a deeply unequal partnership where an economically dominant China treats Russia as a junior partner—and an asset to upend the global order.

The team breaks down the geopolitical and economic survival strategies keeping Moscow afloat, from massive natural gas pipeline breakthroughs to unexpected lifelines handed over by Western nations.



The Yamal-to-China Pipeline: A deep dive into the resurrected, 50-billion-cubic-meter gas project cutting through Mongolia—a long-term economic fallback that cements Russia's reliance on selling off its natural resources to Asia.



The UK's "Shameful" Sanctions Shift: An analysis of Britain's controversial decision to officially loosen strict sanctions on Russian energy imports. Driven by soaring energy costs and blockades in the Strait of Hormuz, the UK's indefinite waiver on refined Russian crude sends a dangerous signal to the Kremlin.



G7 Hypocrisy: How the British government managed to sign an unwavering G7 pledge to impose "severe costs" on Russia , while simultaneously backtracking on vital sanctions at home.

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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