Frontline: The War in Ukraine and Global Security

On today’s episode of Frontline, Kate Gerbeau speaks to Major General Richard Shirreff about Ukraine’s “Darwinian innovation” and he reacts to the breaking news of the UK defence minister’s resignation. 

“I understand Putin hasn’t been outside, as it were, for weeks, if not months now.”Putin is “terrified” of venturing outside of his “highly defended palaces or the Kremlin” as he fears being taken out by Ukraine, says Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, the author of ‘Tank Command.’ 

“Every authoritarian regime has an internet kill switch which they can employ, but the population do get generally quite disturbed when those things happen and it can exacerbate your economic model.”Putin’s paranoia is “elevated” as outrage from internet blackouts in Russia sparks fears of assassination for its president, says former Major General Chip Chapman.

“We could walk back into the occupied territories without a shot being fired.”Ukraine has “clawed back the battlefield” by targeting Putin’s “achilles heel” with its strikes on Russia’s oil refineries, says former British Army soldier and journalist Shaun Pinner.

“If you were to get shooting Putin, if it were…if we have that in the channel or the Danish narrows, we could very quickly be in a chapter five Nato confrontation.”Putin could quickly find himself in a sticky situation if someone “gets fed up with him”, says The Standard’s defence editor and writer for The Independent and the i Robert Fox.

“It’s got an arm like the Mossad that can hunt down Russian generals and anyone else who is responsible for war crimes.”Putin's commanders will “spend the rest of their lives looking under their cars and checking over their shoulders” as the GUR will make their lives miserable, says Lieutenant General Ben Hodges.

Putin ally Viktor Orban has stepped down after losing the Hungarian election, Michael Bociurkiw, Ukraine based journalist and former diplomat discusses what it means for Ukraine, Russia and European security on Frontline.