Inside Putin’s Plan to Cripple Ukraine This Winter

About this episode

<p>President Trump said he was making an energy deal with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and waiving new sanctions on Moscow. Now, he’s feuding with Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky.</p><p>Russia is taking advantage of the moment by relentlessly striking Kyiv, killing civilians and cutting off power for more than a million people.</p><p>Constant Méheut, who is covering the war for The New York Times, explains why Mr. Putin appears so confident that Russia can bomb Ukraine into submission.</p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/constant-meheut" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Constant Méheut</strong></a>, a correspondent covering the war in Ukraine for The New York Times.</p><p>Background reading:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>Analysis: Why Russia sees a window to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/15/world/europe/russia-ukraine-winter-energy.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bomb Ukraine into submission.</a></li><li>Mr. Zelensky says Mr. Trump risks <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/18/world/europe/ukraine-starshield-russia-war.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a “historic mistake” if he backs Russia.</a></li></ul><p>Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka/Associated Press</p> <p><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily"><strong>nytimes.com/thedaily</strong></a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p><p> </p><p>Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.</p></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>