Drone siege and battlefield doctrine shift

Day 1,343.

Today, as the fierce battle for Pokrovsk rages on – with Russian troops now inside the city and 15 armoured vehicles destroyed on its outskirts – we report on the dramatic destruction of a dam in Russia that has cut off Moscow’s forces inside Ukraine. Later, we speak to one of the leading architects behind the Western initiative to seize $300 billion in frozen Russian state assets, exploring how close this unprecedented move is to becoming reality – and what it could mean for the future of the war.

Contributors:

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

Francis Dearnley (Executive Editor for Audio). @FrancisDearnley on X.

With thanks to campaigner, journalist and entrepreneur Hugo Dixon.

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Questions from the audience are answered in the podcast version, below:

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Content Referenced:

Ukraine floods Russian troops in dam strike (The Telegraph):

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/10/27/russian-troops-cut-off-flooding-ukraine-hits-belgorod-dam/ 

Inside Ukraine’s fortress belt, where Nato doctrine no longer applies (The Telegraph):

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/10/27/trump-freeze-frontlines-trouble-ukraine/ 

Western drones are underwhelming on the Ukrainian battlefield (The Economist):

https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/10/23/western-drones-are-underwhelming-on-the-ukrainian-battlefield 

Russian army committing murder in Ukraine: Independent rights commission (UN report):

https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/iicihr-ukraine/reports/report-independent-international-commission-inquiry-ukraine-un-general-assembly-a80497

Kyiv wants to cash in on OnlyFans creators’ unpaid taxes. There’s just one problem: making porn is illegal in Ukraine (Meduza):

https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/10/08/turning-me-into-a-criminal 

Ukraine's OnlyFans Paradox: Tax the Sin, Punish the Sinner (Iuliia Mendel’s Substack):

https://iuliiamendel.substack.com/p/ukraines-onlyfans-paradox-tax-the 

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