Ukraine strikes Chechen special forces ahead of Putin-Witkoff talks & Russian troops ‘sent to slaughter’ without helmets or armour

Day 1,377.

Today, on a national day of mourning in Ukraine after a single ballistic missile strike killed four people and injured forty more, we report on the arrival of the US delegation in Moscow as the latest round of peace talks gets under way. Then we hear from our Washington Correspondent on the mood in the United States toward Ukraine – and the current strength of President Trump – and take a deep dive into how Russian soldiers are being sent into combat without helmets or body armour.

Contributors

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

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

Verity Bowman (Foreign Correspondent). @VerityBowman on X.

Connor Stringer (Washington Correspondent). @connor_stringer on X.

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CONTENT REFERENCED:

Russian troops sent to slaughter with no helmets or armour (Verity in The Telegraph):

https://tinyurl.com/yc4aysxr

Ukraine strikes Chechen special forces unit ahead of Putin-Witkoff talks (The Telegraph):

https://tinyurl.com/3f9s4vu5

Zelensky warns US not to reward Putin (The Telegraph):

https://tinyurl.com/y685hcpc

Ex-British soldier ‘helped Russia assassinate prominent Ukrainians’ (The Telegraph):

https://tinyurl.com/bdft3f7m

ECB refuses to provide backstop for €140bn Ukraine loan (Financial Times):

https://www.ft.com/content/616c79ee-34de-425a-865e-e94ba10be788

Ukraine has brought back 1,859 Russia-abducted children, Zelenska says in Paris (Kyiv Independent):

https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-says-1-859-abducted-children-have-been-returned-zelenska-tells-paris-summit 

Five South Africans in court over alleged recruitment for Russia’s war in Ukraine (The Guardian):

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/01/south-africans-court-alleged-recruitment-russia-war-ukraine 

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