Description:
Alexander Mercouris on Ukrainian forces withdrawing from Orekhov, a collapse that could open the road toward Zaporizhzhia, hours after Donald Trump claimed Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an energy ceasefire. Mercouris walks through denials from Moscow and Kiev, corruption scandals in the Ukrainian leadership, and an EU split over rolling over Russia sanctions.
Timeline:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:35 Ukrainian forces reportedly withdraw from Orikhiv
00:01:09 Rybar's account of the withdrawal
00:03:46 Villages north of Orikhiv fall, cutting the escape road
00:07:02 Why Orikhiv matters for the road to Zaporizhzhia and Crimea
00:11:49 Trump claims a Russia Ukraine energy truce
00:12:37 Skepticism sets in as Kyiv denies any agreement
00:15:13 Peskov's denial exposes Trump's claim
00:16:33 Ben Aris on Ukraine's unsustainable warehouse losses
00:23:39 Zelensky sanctions his own former spokeswoman Yulia Mendel
00:26:36 A deadly gunfight between Ukrainian intelligence services
00:28:23 The Kravchenko prosecutor general scandal and fake call centers
00:33:49 Mercouris on the real story behind Ukraine's turf wars
00:38:06 Europe splits over rolling over Russia sanctions
00:41:00 Petraeus says he witnessed the railway strike and found it terrifying
00:43:06 The hypocrisy behind coverage of the Krasnodar strikes
00:44:01 Debunking the myth of Putin's Italian palace