them. tonight, how tenuous is vladimir putin s hold on power. what does russian infighting mean for ukraine s counteroffensive. and what did the u.s. and western allies know in advance. we gave putin no excuse to blame this on the west and blame this on nato. good evening from kyiv, ukraine. i am ali velshi. and i am here because something unprecedented unfolded over the weekend. never in 23 years under putin s russia has this happened. thousands of armed soldiers, mercenaries, taking up arms against their own country. [inaudible] this was a scene inside russia today, explosions in cities, and a private army marching through the streets, vowing to take the fight all the way to the capital. those rebel forces previously allied with putin and the russian military, even leading many of the battles in ukraine, but then that ship suddenly violently ended. what exactly they were marching for remains unclear. the mercenaries, part of the wagner group, wer
forces. so, i think putin is afraid of them. tonight, how tenuous is black vladimir putin s hold on power. what does russian infighting mean for ukraine s counteroffensive. and what did the u.s. and western allies know in advance. we gave putin no excuse to blame this on the west and blame this on nato. good evening from kyiv, ukraine. i am ali velshi. and i am here because something unprecedented unfolded over the weekend. never in 23 years under putin s russia has this happened. thousands of armed soldiers, mercenaries, taking up arms against their own country. [inaudible] this was a scene inside russia today, explosions and cities, and a private army watching through the streets, vowing to take the fight all the way to the capital. those rebel forces previously allied with putin and the russian military, even leading many of the battles and ukraine but then that ship suddenly violently ended. what exactly they were marching for remains unclear.
civilian infrastructure is one. attempting to undermine european support for kyiv is another. how s that going? well, my guest is czech foreign ministerjan lipavsky, an ardent supporter of ukraine in a country facing a deepening energy and economic crisis. is europe s pro ukraine stand sustainable? foreign ministerjan lipavsky in prague, welcome to hardtalk. hello and thank you for having me. it s a pleasure to have you on the show, foreign minister. i m sure you as well as i have been watching the pictures coming out of ukraine, the swarms of kamikaze drones, so called, which are now targeting ukraine s civilian infrastructure, leaving millions of people without heat, power, and looking at a very dangerous, alarming scenario through the winter. is this a signal that europe needs to do much more to offer ukraine military assistance? sadly, yes. we need to do more in terms of sending more air defence to ukraine to solve this, let s say, very specific issue of russia terrorism
an ardent supporter of ukraine in a country facing a deepening energy and economic crisis. is europe s pro ukraine stand sustainable? foreign ministerjan lipavsky in prague, welcome to hardtalk. hello and thank you for having me. it s a pleasure to have you on the show, foreign minister. i m sure you as well as i have been watching the pictures coming out of ukraine, the swarms of kamikaze drones, so called, which are now targeting ukraine s civilian infrastructure, leaving millions of people without heat, power, and looking at a very dangerous, alarming scenario through the winter. is this a signal that europe needs to do much more to offer ukraine military assistance? sadly, yes. we need to do more in terms of sending more air defence to ukraine to solve this, let s say, very specific issue of russia terrorism against ukraine s population. and it is a clear decision of vladimir putin to send drones, iranian drones to bomb civilian infrastructure and also to bomb civilians a
now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. on the front lines of the war in ukraine, russian forces are struggling, in several areas retreating, which is why vladimir putin is pursuing other strategies. trying to destroy ukraine s civilian infrastructure is one. attempting to undermine european support for kyiv is another. how s that going? well, my guest is czech foreign ministerjan lipavsky, an ardent supporter of ukraine in a country facing a deepening energy and economic crisis. is europe s pro ukraine stand sustainable? foreign ministerjan lipavsky in prague, welcome to hardtalk. hello and thank you for having me. it s a pleasure to have you on the show, foreign minister. i m sure you as well as i have been watching the pictures coming out of ukraine, the swarms of kamikaze drones, so called, which are now targeting ukraine s civilian infrastructure, leaving millions of people without heat, power, and looking at a very dangerous, alarming scenari