Shaun Pinner joins me from Dnipro in early August, after a week in which we covered the protests and he was among the first on the scene of a missile strike during a night when 27 ballistic missiles came in. Shaun's biggest worry: four and a half years in, Ukraine is short of the interceptors that stop ballistic missiles, with winter coming.
We talk about Russian cluster munitions fired into Kyiv near a Nova Post depot and why that breaks the proportionality rule, reports of North Korean troops arriving, the Senate sanctions bill and the tariff 'Trojan horse' inside it, and the June 4, 2026 House vote. I describe the drive behind the lines near Sumy and from Mykolaiv to Dnipro past bombed gas stations.
Shaun asks when the world will use the word genocide for drone sieges like Kherson's. We also cover AI-voiced war channels, plans for monthly Kyiv forums with POW families, and the upgraded studio gear behind the show.
Chapters
0:00 New studio setup and welcome
1:45 Heat in the trenches, and a week of attacks
2:22 Running out of interceptors
3:05 First on the scene: 27 ballistic missiles in one night
7:54 Winter without interceptors, and more Russian manpower
9:42 Jammers, Wi-Fi and the cluster munitions video
12:58 What we can and cannot show
14:59 The Senate sanctions bill and the tariff Trojan horse
16:52 The House, Ukraine aid and the June 4 vote
17:55 Patriots, PAC-3s and empty launchers
19:36 Turkey's offer of help
20:51 Escalated air raid in Kyiv
23:25 Driving the front: Sumy, Mykolaiv to Dnipro
26:35 The cabinet reshuffle and bad timing
28:31 Listen to people in country
32:19 Corruption charges and the double standard
33:27 How many Putins?
34:49 North Korean troops and a war of attrition
36:26 Strikes on Crimea, the land corridor and Wildberries
38:54 Paratrooper jokes and Moshchun
40:59 Hybrid warfare in Europe
42:12 International Cat Day and Loki
44:52 Cluster munitions near the Nova Post depot
47:31 When can we use the word genocide?
50:41 Patriot licensing walkbacks and watered-down sanctions
52:19 Children and munition safety posters in schools
55:53 Pressure on Putin at home
57:41 A wrestling story, and why Russia is losing
59:42 Sun Tzu and the cost of human life
1:01:41 Coming up: Terrell Starr, and monthly POW family forums
1:05:10 What the studio upgrades cost
1:06:21 Taylor Swift or Philip Glass: competing for attention
1:08:26 AI-voiced war channels and bad intel
1:11:19 Don't be scared to say genocide; goodnight
Watch on YouTube: Shaun Pinner: Ukraine Short of Interceptors, Cluster Munitions on Kyiv | Voices From The Front
