The new context in Ukraine, 2026 with Hanna Shelest & Yuliia Shaipova - Women Leaders | Lyssna här

Long wars evolve and change, sometimes due to innovation and weapons other times due to politics and personalities — but in all cases there is a sharp change of context: the realities in which the war started cease to apply, and the new ones dictate events. The war in Ukraine has now reached this situation.

While Russia claims to still be fighting the same war for the same reasons, it is poorer, weaker, with a staggering amount of casualties and a population increasingly disgruntled. Conversely, while the people of Ukraine are tired of war and of Russia’s malicious bombing of civilian targets, it remains united in its opposition to Russia’s claims upon its lands and people, and ever more inventive in its capabilities and international outreach.

To better understand these shifting realities and the position of Ukraine Ilana Bet-El is joined by Hanna Shelest, Director of Security Studies at Foreign Policy Council Ukrainian Prism, and Yuliia Shaipova, Affiliated Expert at Ukrainian Prism. A deep and flowing conversation with many important insights!

This episode was recorded on 19 May 2026

Chapters

What changed in the battlefield dynamics?
Evolutions inside Ukraine and current political landscape
The impact of the Middle-East war on Ukraine
Perceptions of EU accession and future aspirations
How could the negotiations progress?

Mentions

Ukrainian Prism
Russian losses
Timothy Garton Ash, Homelands: A Personal History of Europe
Hanna’s previous Women Leaders episode (November 2025)

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Yuliia Shaipova LinkedIn
Ilana Bet-El
Instagram @women_leaders_podcast
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Our partner European Leadership Network Twitter LinkedIn Facebook website

Credits

Production: Florence Ferrando
Music: Let Good Times Roll, RA from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/ra/let-good-times-rollLicense code: ZXIIIJUU2ISPZIJT