Hello and welcome back to the latest episode of Battleground Ukraine with me, Patrick Bishop, and Saul David.

The fact that things are moving at a slower pace

on the battlefield, or perhaps that information about what's happening on the eastern and southern

fronts is getting harder to come by, has meant that we've been turning our thoughts to the long-term

consequences of the war and what it means for the world, the West and for Ukraine itself.

To help us understand, we've been talking to someone with profound knowledge. and what it means for the world, the West and for Ukraine itself.

To help us understand, we've been talking to someone with profound knowledge of the situation.

Owen Matthews is half Russian.

He's lived in and reported on Russia at key moments in its recent history over the last 30 years,

and he's the author of several highly acclaimed and very successful books. The latest,

just out, is called Overreach, the inside story of Putin's war with Ukraine, and it's an absolute must-read if you want to understand what's going on. It's a brilliant analysis of how

we got to where we are and what's likely to happen next. So rather than cut a word of it,

we've decided to run it in its entirety, which means our news roundup will be rather truncated

this week. Well, Saul, for me, this standout event of the last few days is the Russian decision,

not very surprising. It must be said to pull out of the UN broker deal to allow Ukraine to export its grain via

the Black Sea. And they're citing recent drone attacks on their fleet at Sevastopol,

apparently by Ukraine, as justification. And they're saying, quote, they can't guarantee the safety

of any further sailings.

Yeah, it's very concerning, isn't it?

I mean, if we just go back to the attack for a minute,

it was extraordinary ingenuity that seems to have been used,

both surface, that is, vessels, unmanned drones heading on the water,

...