Day 1,397.

Today, as three days of talks in Miami between the US, Ukraine and Russia fail to produce anything of substance, we report how Emmanuel Macron may pick up the diplomatic baton with a potential phone call this week with Vladimir Putin. We report the breaking news of a car bombing in Moscow that has killed another senior Russian General and of another Ukrainian strike against Russian energy facilities in the Caspian Sea. And later, you’ll hear a report from our last trip to Ukraine when we visited a prosthetics factory in Odesa.

Contributors:

Dominic Nicholls (Associate Editor of Defence). @DomNicholls on X.

With thanks to video producer Jack Leather.

Video version of our report on the prosthetics factory in Odesa:

https://youtu.be/m-vZshCP4nY

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CONTENT REFERENCED:

Steve Rosenberg’s actual question to Putin:

https://x.com/BBCSteveR/status/2002328372253503933?s=20

Russian TV’s interaction with the fake Steve Rosenberg:

https://x.com/BBCSteveR/status/2002804837486850215?s=20

Russia is Losing – Time for Putin's 2026 Hybrid Escalation

https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/russia-losing-time-putins-2026-hybrid-escalation

Reuters: US intelligence indicates Putin's war aims in Ukraine are unchanged:

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-intelligence-indicates-putins-war-aims-ukraine-are-unchanged-2025-12-19/

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Reinstated: Mariameno Kapa-Kingi