Ukraine smashes Russian oil refinery, US sells Tomahawks to Germany | Ukraine war news updates today

I'm Dom Nicholls, and this is Ukraine The Latest.Today, as the bottle tops and chocolate wrappers from Roland's Hotel and Mini Bar flutter through the empty streets of Ankara, we don't talk about the NATO summit.Instead, we report that as Ukraine continues playing its game of whack -a -hole in Russian energy plants, multiple sites across the country have, in the last 24 hours, experienced close encounters of the Magyar's birds kind.We look at tactical developments on the battlefield, including the suggestion Ukrainian troops are now deliberately starting their assaults carrying next -to -no equipment, before turning to politics.with Tomahawks on their way to Germany and Marine Le Pen, possibly on her way to the Elysee Palace.And later, an interview with a teenager who the Kremlin deems such a threat, they have sanctioned him.

It's Friday, the 10th of July, four years and 136 days since the full -scale invasion began.And today, I'm joined by my co -host, Adélie Poggiamponte.But first, the military updates from the last 24 hours.Multiple energy infrastructure sites across Russia were hit last night as Ukraine continues its 40 -day intensive campaign.The Ilsky oil refinery in southern Russia, about 100 kilometers east of the Kursk Bridge, was hit by drones, as was the port of Taganrog, a little bit further north, right in the northeast corner of the Sea of Azov.The Ilsky refinery is amongst the largest in southern Russia, and last night's attack marks at least the 17th time the refinery has been targeted by Ukrainian strikes.

To be fair, the last time the refinery was hit was on June 2nd, so they've only had 37 days to move some air defence there.Some air defence.Any.Come on, lads, it's a war.Anyway, the strikes on Taganrog resulted in huge columns of smoke over the city, and nearby Azov was also visited, with the oil refinery there somehow self -sanctioning.Russian authorities in the Stavropol Krai region, a little to the east, declared a state of emergency, and oil depots in Tver, 100 kilometers northwest of Moscow, went up in smoke.

Apart from that, it was all quiet in Russia, and the special forcesoperation continued exactly as planned.The strikes are causing disquiet internationally, though.Kazakhstan has denied claims in the Russian media that drones used to hit Russia's Omsk oil refinery earlier this week, around 3 ,000 kilometres from Ukraine, had been launched from its territory, calling the allegations provocative and unsupported by evidence.The Foreign Ministry said Kazakhstan's territory, airspace and infrastructure cannot be used to conduct attacks against other states.Kazakhstan also urged journalists to rely only on verified facts.

Kazakhstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, we regard such publications as unreasonable insinuations aimed at distorting the traditional friendly nature of Kazakh -Russian relations, which are successfully developing in the spirit of comprehensive strategic partnership and alliance.Now connected, Kazakhstan has tightened vehicle crossings from Russia to curb fuel smuggling as shortages continue following the repeated Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure.into Ukraine.And whilst there was no movement on the ground, 18 of 137 Russian drones did get through Ukrainian air defence last night.Now, as we've said before, drones and ballistic missiles are relatively easy to count.But please don't think that's all that the Kremlin is throwing at Ukraine's public.

Governor Ivan Fedorov said that in southeastern Zaporizhia Oblast, one person was killed and 12 others injured yesterday when Russian forces launched 1 ,038 strikes against 49 settlements across the region.Many of those would have been by first -person view drones and glide bombs.Across the country, seven people were killed and nearly 100 injured yesterday.Another passenger bus in southern Kherson Oblast was hit, causing civilian casualties.Now, in recent months, we've repeatedly reported little or no movement at the front.But I saw an interesting comment on X from open source analyst The Dead District, who quotes a Russian mail blogger.

This individual called Romanov describes a new tactic being used by Ukrainian forces to get through the so -called kill zone.That's the exit.between established Ukrainian or Russian held territory where drones dominate and movement is extremely difficult.Romanov says, the enemy is using new formats of infantry ground operations.Single vehicle movements and columns are still encountered, and sometimes operations of this type are successful.However, thanks to dense vegetation, enemy personnel are increasingly moving light and infiltrating positions in small groups as covertly as possible.

Due to the capabilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the field of aerial logistics, assault tactics have naturally evolved.Personnel move through the kill zone carrying only light equipment, while their supplies are delivered by air.Let me explain, he says.This is not some run -down position where they simply drop food and medical supplies.This is a fresh assault group receiving body armor, ammunition, drones, heavy weapons, Starlink, and other equipment delivered by Bava Yaga drone.After receiving everything necessary, the fighters make their push.

Moreover, the assault is effective because they do not have to carry all their gear on their backs for dozens of kilometres.A natural transformation of logistics has taken place, Romanov says.It has not disappeared, it has moved into the air.Individual operations have evolved into a supply system.The enemy's dominance in the air has not only complicated our logistics, but now our assaults can unexpectedly encounter a heavy machine gun or a well -equipped group with anti -tank weapons in places where previously There were only exhausted soldiers with rifles and minimal ammunition.It's fascinating stuff, and perhaps linked to the announcement by Ukraine's defence ministry that a remote control vehicle called Novator has entered service.

No crew on board means more payload capacity, they say, and no lives at risk behind the wheel.Now, in response to Ukrainian technical advances, Russia is said to be adapting its defences against Kiev's expanding drone campaign by deploying advanced electronic warfare systems, disguising military logistics and altering supply routes, according to a report by Reuters.Sergei Peskresnov, an adviser to Ukraine's defence ministry, told Reuters that Russia has begun deploying a system known as Volna -Kupol -Garant, which emits a signal powerful enough to destabilise Starlink connections within an area roughly 20 square kilometres.Ukrainian forces have identified and destroyed some of the jammers, around 10 so far, we are told, restoring drone connectivity in affected areas.Russia is also moving supplies in smaller convoys, using secondary roads and civilian vehicles to reduce losses.Analysts say these measures could complicate Ukraine's successful mid -range strike campaign.

On the use of civilian cars, under the Geneva Conventions and the principles of international humanitarian law, using civilian cars for military purposes is not automatically illegal.However, doing so causes the vehicle to lose its civilian protections, rendering it a legitimate military target subject to attack.By extension, it also increases the risk to genuine civilian vehicles.Major Mykola Kolesnik, commander of Ukraine's 422nd Unmanned Systems Regiment, said, We've hit water tankers, and the tankers were burning because there was gasoline inside.Russian occupation authorities in Donetsk Oblast have sentenced two Ukrainian Marine commanders and two deputies to life imprisonment in a high -security penal colony for the defense of Mariupol, according to Russia's investigative committee, who's speaking on Wednesday.In a post on social media, the Russian committee said Ukrainian commanders and their subordinates have been convicted of the murder of 93 people and the shelling of residential buildings and civilian infrastructure in Mariupol.

Those sentenced are Colonel Volodymyr Branyuk, who's commander of Ukraine's 36th Separate Marine Brigade, the outfit we visited when in Odessa last year, his deputies, Dmitry Kamyankov and Vitaly Yaroshenko, along with commander of the 501st Marine Battalion, Mykola Biryukov.Mariupol, you'll remember as wellforces bombed the theatre, where civilians were sheltering, despite having the word KIDS written in huge letters, visible from the air, on the ground outside.Estimates of the number killed vary, but are thought to be very high.Mariupol was occupied in May 2022, and over the years aerial imagery has shown mass graves where civilian victims are said to have been buried.being systematically destroyed by Russian forces.

Now, to finish off the tactical updates, Ukraine's commander in chief, General Alexander Sersky, spoke earlier today, giving a roundup of operations for the first half of 2026.He said a lot of words.And while I understood each one individually, to be honest, I didn't come away from his commentary with a much better picture of the battlefield than I think I get from doing my day job.Referring to Russia's much vaunted spring summer offensive, he said, The enemy attempted to launch a large -scale offensive, but in fact failed to achieve any of its objectives, despite having an almost two -fold advantage in personnel and equipment.So far so good, but then it all went a bit bendy.If previously the Russian army was conducting active offensive operations in 13 operational directions, he said, now there are at most six or seven.

Okay, but how do you define an operational direction, General?Then, Our ratio of assault operations to those of the enemy is currently approximately 40 to 60, right?It is precisely thanks to the active actions of the defence forces that in the first half of 2026 the pace of Russian troop advances decreased by more than half.Now, I think I get it.We've seen the front line, however we define it, barely moving at all, even with the extreme violence being meted out, another 1 ,460 Russian casualties yesterday.But I thought it was an overly complicated roundup.

I am, almost certainly, being massively unfair.And he rounded it all off with a very clear statement that I think, amid the oil tankers being hit and punch -ups in the Moscow fuel queues, we would do well to understand.We must not underestimate the enemy, he said, a turning point in the war.is still far away.Now, looking wider, the United States has approved the sale of Tomahawk long -range cruise missiles to Germany, reversing earlier reluctance over concerns the deployment could escalate tensions with Russia.German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the agreement was reached during the NATO summit in Ankara and would help close a key gap in Germany's long -range strike capabilities.

Formal US approval is expected by August.The news comes as President Zelensky said yesterday that Ukraine expects to receive additional PAK -3 interceptors for Patriot air defence systems from international partners, although no date for delivery has been set.And that announcement came a day after Donald Trump agreed to grant Ukraine a licence to produce its own Patriot missiles, the supply and production of which is Ukraine's number one priority, in President Zelensky's words.Although that is a much longer term prospect, with many hoops still to be jumped through.Still, all this talk of highly sophisticated US weaponry heading into Europe hasn't gone unnoticed by the Kremlin, although, as you might expect, they are keen to downplay the developments.Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said yesterday that the US has always supplied military aid to Ukraine and that Trump's statements are a misconception rather than an escalation.

No, I've got no idea either.His words follow those of Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova, who on Wednesday, in a bid not to be left out of the show me your rattle without showing me your rattle party, said the US remains disinterested in contributing to European security.Now, to underline just how relaxed Russian authorities are right now, given these inconsequential recent developments, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was in action yesterday in the same way that a putrefying landfill site oozing bin juice into an open sewer could be said to be in action.Moscow no longer trusts Western peace efforts, he said, and will continue its war until its territorial demands are met.Speaking during a joint press conference with Mozambique's foreign minister, he accused the West of feigning willingness to negotiate.adding that Russia's reserves of goodwill and hope has been completely exhausted.

It's hard to tell if he said all this through a straight face, as his jowls got in the way.Now, NATO has upgraded its Baltic air policing mission into an active air defence operation, giving Allied fighter pilots greater authority to destroy aerial threats posing an immediate danger.According to the Reuters report, the move follows recent kinetic engagements in which NATO aircraft shot down suspected stray Ukrainian drones over Estonian and Latvian territory, marking the first instances where the rotational deployment opened fire in defence of Allied airspace.The Baltic air policing mission originally launched in 2004 and was expanded after Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea.Lithuanian President Džitano Štjausėda explained, with impressive understatement, the need for the change.The current security climate, he said, is no longer entirely peaceful.

The previous policing format served as a form of peacetime deterrence by escorting targets to show the alliance took note of incidents.Estonian Foreign Minister Marga Sackner cleared things up.He said the newly upgraded framework is designed to provide greater flexibility and significantly faster response times to localised aerial threats.Now onto the diplomatic front, and we've done a lot of international coverage all week.We have squeezed our NATO lemons.Thankfully, though, now there's time to talk about what's been a big week in French politics.

Adélie, quelle est la boeuf?

You always ask me this question and I don't know where it comes from.I don't know where you got it, but you're going to have to tell me at some point.

What's the beef?

What's going on?Oh, kill it.

Que paso, Shay?

I did not get that.Oh, that's very silly.It's French.Look it up.Go on Google.

You can do a translate thing.

All right, fine.I'll do that after the show.I'm just being a bit silly.It's Friday, after all.Anyways, this is a domestic story in French politics, but it is relevant for defence, for Europe and for Ukraine.So bear with me.

The story that made headlines all week isthe fact that Marine Le Pen's appeal verdict and her subsequent announcement that she was running for president for the presidential campaign, which is a year from now.Dom, do you know anything about this and why she was convicted in the first place?

A little.Embezzlement of funds.Was it party funds or external funds or something?

Absolutely.Misuse of funds.Absolutely.That's very good.Very good.I'm very impressed.

I don't need to French plane you then.You know everything.

It's better than Franco -splaining, I suppose.We'll get enough of that during the rest of the week.He's off today.

Anyway, never mind.

French -splain away.

So Marine Le Pen was indeed charged with embezzlement for misusing European Union funds.The total amount was the equivalent of £2 .5 million.And this happened over 11 years.So it wasn't just a blip.They didn't misread the accounts.She was originally sentenced to three years in prison.

that's including two suspended years and one to be served at home with an electronic bracelet.I'm not saying this out of like stylishness and jewelry, etc, etc.This is relevant for the rest of it.A 45 month ban on sending in elections and a fine of 100 ,000 euros.Now, she appealed the conviction, hence going to the Court of Appeal.She was particularly upset about the ban on running for office, as you can imagine, because it would have excluded her from the presidential election next year.

It's obviously an important decision because Marine Le Pen and more generally her party have been rising, as you know, in French politics over the last 25 years and they could very much be on track to become France's next president or next presidential party.So what did the Court of Appeal say?Well, the judge has confirmed that Marine Le Pen is guilty.That's important.The fine is maintained and so is the prison sentence, including one year with the electronic bracelet.The ban, however, was cut short.

So she's alreadyserved the full time and she's now free to run in next year's vote.

So she can now stand in next year's elections.What does it mean?Because there's this other chap in there in in the national rally.So what does it mean for her and the elections?her personal ambition to become president.Where does she stand now?

Well, that's where it gets interesting because Marine Le Pen has said previously, while her course was in the Court of Appeal, that she would not run for president with an electronic bracelet.Technically, she is still sentenced to that.She's still supposed to have an electronic bracelet for a whole year, meaning, according to her own rules and the statements she's made in the media, she shouldn't be running.But she's also a lawyer by trade, so she knows the justice system very, very well, and she knows how to make good use of it.So what she's done is she has taken her case to the Cour de Cassation, that is France's Supreme Court, or the equivalent of.And what that means is that the verdict, as well as the sentence, are suspended until the court comes back with a decision.

And they said they would try and publish the decision in the days leading up to the first round of presidential election which is next April in France.In the meantime she doesn't have to serve her sentence, she doesn't have to wear the electronic bracelet, therefore she's not breaking any of the promises that she's made to French people on TV.So she went on TV after the verdict on Wednesday night and announced that she was running for president and that she was launching a campaign.her presidential campaign.

Jordan and I are here because we're kicking off the presidential campaign.I'm not going to spend the presidential campaign giving you legal analyses.The court has restored my eligibility.The rest will follow, so to speak.What I want now is for us to talk about politics, because the future of the French people is at stake.They're waiting for answers to our everyday problems.

Purchasing power, insecurity, deindustrialisation and very low wages.That's what they're waiting for.The Court of Appeal said, I'm granting voters their freedom to vote.I expected nothing less.As for the rest, the French have been hearing about this case for 10 years.I think they are all well aware of all the ins and outs.

I think they know full well that the charges against us in no way warrant a criminal conviction.

So she's been out on the campaign trail since.Jordan Badella, you asked, so the number two.He was primed to take the lead and become potentially France's president if he were to be elected.And he sort of has to get on with it.He would become her Prime Minister, however.What she says is that they're running a double election, as if they were two candidates, sort of.

They're going on the trail together, not only because he's the head of the party, he would be Prime Minister, but because he would have to step in should she be found guilty by the Court de Cassation in the very, very days before the first round of the election.

It'd be a lot easier if you just had a poo bell standing.

Yeah, the French never do that sort of silly business.I really like it in this country.

So, gotcha.Thank you.Just for those in the room, and I don't include myself in this, but just in case anyone's not been all over this, can you give us a bit of context on the national rally and on Marine Le Pen?

Yeah, I think it's worth going back to some of the controversies that have riddled her political career.

Some people will find it helpful.I'm all over it.

Obviously, you know everything.You know, she's a populist politician and like most of populist politicians, she runs on the idea of a rotten political elite, right?Tous pourris, as we say in French.They're tous pourris.And so therefore, we're much better than them.And that's helpful because they've never been in power.

She's argued in the past, also, that anyone committing crime while being in an elected office should be banned from running in elections for the rest of their lives.Funny that.One of her political motto over the years has been clean hands, heads held high, meaning they don't they don't do any funny business.On top of the case that we're talking about today, she's also been found guilty in other cases of financial fraud and embezzlement over the financing of a party.There's also another ongoing investigation on a third case, and she's also being investigated for failing to declare assets.I think that's real estate, two different assets worth 600 ,000 euros each, something like that.

We've also obviously talked on this podcast many times about the many scandals involving how Russia has been financing her party for years.So now that seems to have stopped.But for a long time, they were borrowing money from the first Czech Russian bank, which is a bank linked to the Kremlin.That Russian bank is under scrutiny with in Western intelligence circles, and it's unclear why they were willing to finance a European party that was shunned by all major French lenders.French regulations limit foreign donations to political parties, but they don't limit foreign loans.So there was a bit of a grey zone on that the party could exploit and that where they could do that.

And also two reports that I think are worth bearing in mind.The first2014, the think tank Fondation pour l 'Innovation Politique published a detailed report highlighting the Front National's growing ideological alignment with Moscow.In 2024, a study from the Fondation Jean Jaurès found that RN voters, so national rally, were three times more likely than average to blame NATO for the war.and nearly half of them agreed with the statement Putin defends traditional values against Western decadence.

drawing it back down to defence and Ukraine, looking through that lens, what does this mean for the war?

traditionally not very enthusiastic about NATO.Russian rhetoric, Russian propaganda, the idea that NATO was expanding towards Russia and therefore being a threat.But Jordan Bardella has made some statements that are more favourable to Ukraine and hostile to Russia, or at least it appears so.He said that Russia was a multidimensional threat for France.But Le Monde was able to get access to a confidential briefing where French diplomats reportedly warned that a Bardella government would freeze bilateral military aid within weeks for Ukraine.And in the European Parliament, the National Rally MPs, who follow Bardella, have constantly voted against sanctions against Moscow, against aid to Ukraine.

It was deemed unfair.expensive, and against Ukraine joining the EU.Nathalie Loiseau, who is a European MP for France, for Horizons, and who's been a staunch defender of Ukraine in the EU Parliament, has said that everything is an excuse for them to not support Ukraine, nor to create a European defence plan, and they have voted against absolutely everything.So that's where it leaves us.

Bon legume, bon legume.Thank you for that.Adelaide, what else have you been looking at on the international front?

OK, some very short news then.The economy minister of Ukraine, Oleksii Sobolev, has announced a big investment in critical minerals coming in the fall from the Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund that was set up as part of the minerals deal with President Trump.The fund has since broadened beyond minerals, announcing its first investment earlier this year into Sene Engineering, a Ukrainian drone software producer.The minister gave an exclusive interview to our friends at the Kyiv Indy, so I'll link to it in the show notes.This week in Lviv, 200 people clashed with military recruitment personnel, leading to riots and burnt cars.It's the most visible eruption in the mobilisation crisis that we've been reporting on for a long time now.

It's raising alarm about whether the issue could become a security threat.I think it's the first of this scale that we've seen, really.

Yeah, I saw this.This was in This was the TCC, I can't remember what it stands for, but it was a particular flashpoint after recent...I mean, we've reported on these incidents in the past, but this was...This was a particularly nasty one, wasn't it?

Yeah, it was.So the TCC is the Territorial Recruitment Centre, in English it's TRC, but you know where I'm going.Online, you could see videos that showed a crowd, many of them appearing to be teenagers or young adults that were surrounding a black military vehicle.They were justshame and they were trying to overturn the vehicle.Two men are then seen climbing onto it, breaking the windows.

People cheer and film the scene.And then there's other footage as well that appears to show a soldier from the military recruitment group being pushed around, pressured to remove his uniform, and people attempting to tear it off after he refuses.So that's, you know, there's more violence than what we've seen in the past, definitely.

Yes indeed.

And then a couple more updates for me Dom on spies.Italy has expelled two Russian diplomats over spying accusations.The move follows the arrest of two former Italian intelligence officers accused of passing intelligence and classified information on military aid to Ukraine and other sensitive defence matters to Russian handlers.The reports say that the leaked information included details about the S .A .M .

P .T.air defence systems, Aster missiles, NATO activities in Bulgaria and Italian defence company Avio.Moscow has denied any wrongdoing.Poland has also sentenced to seven years in prison a Russian activist who admitted spying for Moscow.The investigation found that he collected information on Russian dissidents living in Poland, as well as on Polish officials, university staff and organisations helping Russian dissidents settle in exile.

Well, thanks, Adelie.Now, you'll know if you've been listening to the podcast for a while that Frances and I have the pleasure of being banned from Russia for a while.over our coverage on the war in Ukraine.Well, a 17 -year -old British boy has now become, we think, the youngest member of this club.

Adelaide, you've spoken to him.Yes, I have.Alexander Browder was recently added to the Kremlin's sanctions list, he thinks, over his work exposing the cryptocurrency networks that allegedly help Russia dodge Western sanctions and fund the war economy.So he told me more about it in our conversations, how we conducted his investigation, what he's been looking at.I don't know anything about cryptocurrency, so it's reallybreaking it down to the laywoman that I am.

And we also spoke about how riling up the Kremlin apparently runs in his family.Maybe you'll recognise his last name.

Well, yes, we've met his dad a few times.Let's have a look at your chat.

Alexander Browder, welcome to the studio.Welcome to Ukraine The Latest.

Thanks for having me on.

So you are one of the youngest or maybe the youngest people to ever be sanctioned by Russia.So congratulations.As we say here, it's a badge of honour.I don't know if you feel the same way.Definitely.We'll get to why you were sanctioned in a minute.

But can you just start by telling me how you found out and what that felt like?

Yeah.So it's a funny story.I'm still in high school.I was sat at the back of my economics class.I opened up my laptop and I saw a Reuters headline stating that I was sanctioned.So, that was a bit surprising and it's unprecedented.

I'm the first high schooler to ever be sanctioned in the world for exposing corruption by an authoritarian regime.

Well, well done.Congratulations.And you are 17 years old, is that right?That's right.Are you skipping school for this interview?

I'm on summer break now.

Oh, you're on summer break.Very good.I would feel bad otherwise.So Alexander, you published a report a few months ago looking at how cryptocurrencies are being used by Russia in order to fund the war effort and replenish the war chest.We're talking about billions of dollars.Following this report, not only have you been sanctioned by Russia, but the UK has also issued sanctions against Russian and Kyrgyz companies involved in this scheme.

So can you please take it apart for us?

Let me start from the beginning.So over the past two years, I created the largest open source database of cryptocurrency money laundering.And what I discovered is that state -sanctioned actors like Russia are heavily utilizing cryptocurrency to launder their funds.And so ever since the war broke out, Russia has been under heavy financial sanctions in the traditionalfinancial scheme.And so they've needed to find alternatives to launder their funds.

And where they've ended up is cryptocurrency.And one of the big major findings I've discovered is that after Bitcoin has Lots of price volatility, it can go up and down 50 % in one week.The bad actors, including Russia, has shifted to stablecoins, which is cryptocurrency backed to some real value like the dollar or gold.And actually, Russia has gone so far as to create their own stablecoin for sanctions evasion.This stablecoin is called A7A5.It was created in January 2025 by a convicted Moldovan fraudster and Russian state bank called PSB.

So in 2025 alone, it processed upwards of $100 billion in cumulative volume.So it's clearly become one of their main tools for sanctions evasion.And the stablecoin and its infrastructure has been sanctioned across the West, in the EU, in the UK, in the US, but it's still continued to fight.function, and not only function, it thrives.So I've set out and trying to expose how it's been able to continue to operate.And what I discovered is that it has enablers, and in this case, they're enablers within the state of Kyrgyzstan.

So many of the illicit exchanges which allow the stablecoin to be converted into cash are registered in Kyrgyzstan.This includes UK -sanctioned Grinnex, UK -sanctioned Myr, and even the issuer of the stablecoin, something called Old Vector, which is also UK -sanctioned.And even more egregious, there's been reports that the masterminds behind this scheme gifted the Kyrgyz president a luxury jet.So there was a lot of corruption going on.and it's vital we take this down.And two months ago, on the back of my work, 26 senior MPs and Lords in the UK wrote to the UK Foreign Secretary urging sanctions on these enablers.

And three weeks ago, the government responded by sanctioning many of these enablers within Kyrgyzstan.But then full circle, Russia ended up sanctioning me.So it's clear I've touched enough.

You've definitely touched enough.Congratulations.That's amazing work.Tell me a little bit about that database.How did you build it?Where did you find that information?

It seems mad.

So this is all open source.source of information, what I discovered when I started it out in... two years ago almost.Information is very fragmented and particularly so that these bad actors can stay hidden and people don't understand what's going on.So I set out through researching through court indictments, analytical reporting, foreign news reporting, blockchain analysis and other methods to collate all the major cases I can into a single database.And with that, I found shocking trends with Russia's use of cryptocurrency, Iran's use of cryptocurrency in North Korea, and it's become heavily utilized to launder funds.It's actually because they're partners.

And so if they want to sell weapons to each other, they do that through cryptocurrency and specifically through this stablecoin.What you've seen, Iran has sold weapons and vice versa to Russia, and that's happened through cryptocurrency.So if you want to stop Russia's war of aggression, you need to pressure the cryptocurrency choke points, which allow this to happen.

One thing that I find really interesting is obviously your work is amazing and has led toUK sanctions.Are these networks, these companies sanctioned anywhere else, by the European Union or the US maybe?And also, why is it being found out?Why is it being targeted so late?

Yeah.So, what I discovered is that senior politicians, not just here in the UK, but in the EU, in the US, they have no idea how cryptocurrency works, first of all, and they have no idea how bad actors like Russia are using it to launder funds.And so when you have...

It's just not on their radar.

It's just not on their radar, and they just don't have the understanding.And so when you have billions moving through cryptocurrency for the Russians, more pressure needs to be put on them.be put on it so it can be taken down.So the sanctions aren't just alone in the UK.There's been several packages of sanctions in the EU trying to take down this stablecoin, this other illicit exchanges.But what I've discovered is that bad actors within the cryptocurrency space are constantly dynamic.

They're constantly moving and they're constantly updating.For example, one of the largest illicit cryptocurrency exchanges based in Russia, something called Garentex which was UK EU sanctioned and and U .S.sanctioned, it managed to continue to function.And in 2022, the Germans managed to seize some of the infrastructure.But what happened, this massive exchange, just all the customers and all the funds just shifted to a apparently new illicit exchange called Grinnex.

And so that happened within weeks.And it's been able to continue to function.It's still processing billions to this day.and it's also under Western sanctions.So whenever you see a headline stating thatUK sanctions have put in place.

The work doesn't stop there.

Yeah, we've talked a lot on this podcast about how sanctions work and how it's a bit of a game of whack -a -mole, where you hit something somewhere, but they actually are tunneling underneath the ground in order to come out somewhere else.And that's what's happening as well.

Definitely.

So in your investigative work, I'm curious, you started putting together all of this information, all of these reports, everything you've talked about.What was the first inkling that you had that something was odd there?How did that idea...What were the first signs?

So the first sign, the case which really got me into this was in February 2025.the North Koreans managed to steal $1 .5 billion from a cryptocurrency exchange in less than five seconds.And all of that was laundered in under 48 hours.And so if a powerful country like North Korea is able to skirt Western sanctions and generate revenue, generating $1 .5 billion, what else is a country able to do?And what I've discovered is that it's become a really egregious situation with many different schemes operating at the same time.And they're targeting not just specific exchanges, they're targeting individual people here within the UK and elsewhere.

Another one of my major discoveries is that Russia is actually financing terrorist attacks here within the UK using cryptocurrency.Many of your audience may have seen the news that Stalmer's house was bombed.bombed by some arsonists.What they don't tell you is that the way they were paid is through cryptocurrency.So a bad actor called, under the alias, El Money, promised them thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency.to set fire to Kirstammer's house.

Now, it's really become a national security threat at present because Russia is able to pay anyone here within the UK small amounts to do these terrorist activity.This is an isolated case.There's been several others.For example, a Ukrainian aid warehouse here within London, in Leighton, I think, In 2024, the Russians paid some individuals in cryptocurrency to set fire to it, and it contained aid such as Starlink and other devices which were bound for Ukraine.They blew it up, and they were paid through cryptocurrency.So it's really become a national security threat, and it's vital we take that down.

OK, that's really interesting.And I imagine a lot of the conversation about the perpetrators of these attacks is that they're not really fully aware they're even being hired by the Russian state.Exactly.And the cryptocurrency is unable to hide that.

Exactly.Because they never need to meet up.They never need to exchange cash.It just goes straight to a Bitcoin wallet or cryptocurrency wallet.And then they carry out these deeds.And so it really raises the threat, especially when there's such high risk of terrorist incidents here within the UK, that we must do something to stop this.

about Kyrgyzstan's involvement?What's in it for them?

they probably get large payoffs to house these illicit exchanges.And there's just not enough pressure by Western government to take them down.So what you've seen actually within Georgia, who's also another big perpetrator of this stablecoin, because of the extreme Western financial pressure, they have actually started to take down some of these cryptocurrency schemes.So if you want to cut off Russia's use of cryptocurrency, you need to target the enablers within these countries who are using this.And there's specific ways of doing this.it.

And that sanctions, if you make it so financially harsh for them to continue to support these schemes, it can stop.

So what has been apart from sanctioning you the Kremlin's and Kyrgyzstan's answer to your findings?Have they said anything?Have they?

So if a powerful country like Russia is targeting a 17 year old for producing a report which they call is disinformation, it's clear that some of the facts within the report they don't like.And so if any Western governments are watching this, if they're so hesitant to to address this issue, then it's clear this is where we need to focus on.

Has Kyrgyzstan said anything?

So Kyrgyzstan is very slow to act.In fact, they haven't acted in taking down any of these cryptocurrency schemes.There's more packages of sanctions coming out.I know in the EU that there's more that's going to be coming out soon.But so unless they act, more needs to be done.I know they're considering also in some countries sectoral sanctions on Kyrgyzstan and with different industries.

But if they don't act in stopping the evasion, and I must say it's not just through cryptocurrency, they also So they also import lots of goods from Europe and send it straight to Russia.So I think right before the war broke out, they only imported under $200 million of goods from Europe.And by 2024, it was up to $2 billion.It's clear that they're enabling sanctions evasion, and so that really needs to be shut down.

What are you going to be looking at next?Are you going to keep on looking at the many different heads of this operation?Are you going to shift your attention elsewhere?

Yeah, so my work doesn't stop.The bad actors are constantly dynamic and they're constantly evolving.And they haven't stopped this stablecoin, so that's a big focus of mine.But then you also have We also have here within the UK the effects of this being seen.So for example, massive ransomware attacks, which are funded through cryptocurrency.So some of your viewers may have heard of this big Jaguar Land Rover hack, which occurred last year.

It completely disrupted their whole production operations here within the UK, and it caused a fall in UK GDP by 0 .1%.And this, in fact, it's been reported, has been carried out by Russia.And so when they get paid in cryptocurrency, this fuels this.And so this is another aspect that I need to stop.But also for regular victims here within Europe, in the UK and US and elsewhere, there's not enough for them to be protected from hacks, scams and stuff.So that's another big part I'm focusing on.

Forgive my very laywoman question, but could individuals in the UK have bought A7, A5s in the past, not being fully aware that it is a Russian cryptocurrency.Do people need to be looking at their own investments, is what I'm saying?I imagine with the sanctioning, they can no longer have them.

With the sanctioning, it's not really possible for people within the UK.However, A big part of why A785 continues to keep its value is in its ability to be exchanged into dollar or pound or euro -backed stablecoins, such as something called USDT.So there's been several cases where A785 can be converted into USDT, and so that allows it to continue to keep its value.and continue to be preferred by Russian consumers.evaders.

There is a part that like individuals play in this.

Exactly.And it's, individuals are also affected by these Russian hackers, by these scammers.And so it's really become a prevalent issue.

I imagine a lot of our listeners will have noticed your last name, Yubel Browder's son.He's been on this podcast many, many times.I've spoken to him many times about his work on Russian frozen assets.I imagine your passion and your interest for this does not come out of nowhere and his fight for many decades in the memory of his friend Sergei Manitsky has played a big part in why you're interested in this.Do you feel you're continuing his work and how differently are you fighting that fight?

So I've always been inspired by people doing great things, whether that's my father, whether that's human rights activists, people bringing justice.And I've always felt I need to do something because there's thousands of people being killed in Ukraine who don't have a voice to bring justice against Russia.And so I've always felt I needed to do something.And what I discovered, this is my father's words, not mine, he's a dinosaur within this aspect.And it requires a young person like me, who understands cryptocurrency, to take it down.As I was mentioning before, senior politicians have no idea about how this works.

And so does many people.And so it's really vital that you need a young person like me in this space.

To tell all the dinosaurs how to do it.it.That's great.Well, congratulations.That's amazing work you've been doing.Is there anything else that you'd like to add?

Another big focus of mine is how Russia is able to use cryptocurrency to interfere in Western elections.

Okay.

So I was invited to testify here within the UK Parliament about this topic.And what I discovered is that cryptocurrencyhas become a big part in Russia's interference campaign.For example, in Moldova during the recent elections, the Russians managed to funnel over $100 million in cryptocurrency to pro -Russian political parties for funding them.They pay sabotage campaigns and they pay other campaigns to interfere in the elections and to promote pro -Russian Western parties.And so that's also a big focus and it's also a big risk because you have millions of dollars which can end up in the hands of pro -Russian political parties while the West is still trying to catch up.

Absolutely.And, you know, you've mentioned Moldova, but there are a lot of very important elections that have happened recently.We've had Armenia, there's France in a year where obviously that sort of interference could have massive consequences for the defence security architecture of the world and for Ukraine.Exactly.

It's so vital now that we stop that we stop and are able to view how cryptocurrency is being used in these elections.The UK recently banned cryptocurrency within political donations.But it's not just that.It's very easy for parties to get around that, and especially very fraudulent campaigns often run by pro -Russian groups, they can easily get around this.

Well, that's fascinating.And you'll have to keep us posted on your work on that, because I think there'll be a lot of interest to us.

Definitely.

Thank you very much for joining me, Alexander.Alexander.

Thank you for having me.Brilliant.Very interesting.Thanks, Anders.Now, let's go to final thoughts.I will start.

Margus Sackner, Estonia's foreign minister, he has said today 7 % is the new cool.Estonia, he said, already invests over 5 % of GDP in core defence.Together with broader security -related spending, though, he says our total investment now reaches around 7 % of GDP.Mr. Sackner there has included wider security measures, which which I said covers a whole multitude of sins.So I'm not sure if this is massively helpful, because it puts the focus back on numbers, which is an input.It's not the output.

But actually, numbers, numbers are an easy shorthand for us who want to take a of football because it's the World Cup and because France won yesterday against Morocco 2 .0.After the most stultifyingly boring first half of football I think I've ever seen.Anyway, sorry, that's just my opinion.

Okay, well, we did score.that had some very successful football teams in the territories that are now occupied, like Shakhtar, Donetsk, right?I think we've seen them around Kiev a couple of times.We've seen their bus.I remember David being very, very excited.I honestly was completely unfazed.

But they're a very, very good team.And Donetsk is now obviously occupied.The team hasn't been able to train at home since 2014.But Russia has decided to use the identity and the history of the team in order to create a fake clone for themselves.So forgive my Russian mispronunciation.I think it's called Shakhtar Donetsk, not Shakhtar.

Big difference.So it's russifying the club's name.It's taking over its identity, its history.The fake Shakhtar play in the Russian city of Taganrog that we often talk about.But the address that it's listed out and registered at is in Donetsk as their headquarters.So all of that isn't very clear.

They are also other Russian clone teams from other football clubs across the occupied territories.So the FC Zorya Luhansk, also in Sevastopol and also in Yalta.So, you know, we've reported this week on how the IOC was welcoming Russian athletes back and how FIFA might very well follow suit.That's yet, I think, another example of Russia trying to creep back and Russify and take over Ukrainian identity.including in football as well.So if you if you know a lot about Ukrainian football, if you know about the history of Ukrainian football or the history of Shakhtar Donetsk, I mean, I think we would love to have you on.

It would be a great interview to have.And also, if you know how the teams are doing, you know, if there's any resistance through football, I'd like to hear it.That's it for me.

Thanks, Adelie.Thanks, everyone.Another big week, big NATO week.If you wanted to catch up on any of the interviews there, do check out our sister podcast, Iran, the latest.There are some other interviews from NATO there.But another long week.

We will be back on Monday, same time, same place.Do hope you can join us.Thanks, Adelie.But from the Telegraph Museum here in London, I wish you all a very good afternoon.