nation in three years. and the premier li keqiang. now on bbc news hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. winter is coming to europe, and vladimir putin is hoping the battle lines in his war on ukraine will be frozen, buying him time to reinforce at the front, while exposing ukrainians and all of europe to the reality of an energy crisis. the ukrainian armed forces have made gains in recent months, but can they go further, and will kyiv s backers in the us and europe maintain their support? well, my guest is general ben hodges, former commander of the us army in europe. could this winter be russia s friend? thanks, steve. even more so. i think ukrainians have achieved irreversible momentum. the russians are losing in every facet of this war. so that s why they re resorting to things like going after energy infrastructure, doing what they can, exactly as you said in the lead in, to stretch this out in hopes that the west would lose the will to continue supporting
the ukrainian armed forces have made gains in recent months, but can they go further and will kyiv s backers in the us and europe maintain their support? well, my guest is general ben hodges, former commander of the us army in europe. could this winter be russia s friend? i m going to start with something you said just last month. you said total restoration of all of ukraine s sovereign territory, including crimea, is inevitable. now, a few weeks on, do you still believe that? even more so. i think ukrainians have achieved irreversible momentum. the russians are losing in every facet of this war. so that s why they re resorting to things like going after energy infrastructure, doing what they can, exactly as you said in the lead in, to stretch this out in hopes that the west would lose the will to continue supporting ukraine. but it s not a small thing, is it? the way the russians are hitting civilian infrastructure, they are, as we speak, cutting power and heat to millions o
in tigray for a permanent cessation of hostilities. the two year conflict has left hundreds of thousands dead, almost five million displaced, and a population on the brink of starvation. now on bbc news, it s time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. winter is coming to europe and vladimir putin is hoping the battle lines in his war on ukraine will be frozen, buying him time to reinforce at the front while exposing ukrainians and all of europe to the reality of an energy crisis. the ukrainian armed forces have made gains in recent months, but can they go further and will kyiv s backers in the us and europe maintain their support? well, my guest is general ben hodges, former commander of the us army in europe. could this winter be russia s friend? i m going to start with something you said just last month. you said total restoration of all of ukraine s sovereign territory, including crimea, is inevitable. now, a few weeks on, do you still believe that? even m
also on the programme: in other news the ukrainians living with the constant threat of russian missile strikes. we have a special report from southern city of mykolaiv. parts of beirut s huge grain silos badly damaged in the 2020 explosion, collapse after a long running fire. and nichelle nichols, the first black actress to play a figure of authority on american tv when she starred as lieutenant uhura in star trek, has died age 89. hello and welcome to the programme. england fans have celebrated long into the night after their side triumphed in the final of the european women s football championship at wembley. the lionesses 2 1 victory over germany came 56 years after england s men beat west germany in the 1966 world cup final the only major trophy previously won by an england senior team. queen elizabeth said the players would be an inspiration for girls and women . mark lobel has the story. a euphoric moment for english sport with a pitch perfect performance from the
scientists are trying to identify why thousands of fish have died in a river between poland and germany. the remains of what could be the largest dinosaur ever discovered in europe, have been found in a back garden in portugal. jimmy anderson strikes at old trafford as england look to level up the series against south africa. we ll have the latest from manchester in the sport. good afternoon. the chancellor nadim zahawi has said the country is in a national economic emergency which could last for 2 years, leaving even middle income earners in need of support. his comments come as another minister defended the deferral of an announcement on further government help with energy bills, untila new prime minister is in place. yesterday, the regulator, ofgem, announced an 80% rise in the energy price cap from october, taking the average annual household bill to more than £3,500. here s marc ashdown. help is coming. that s the message from the chancellor on rocketing energy bi