Latest / The Front / Inside Ukraine’s fight for the next generation

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Inside Ukraine’s fight for the next generation · The Front

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: From The Australian, here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: It's Tuesday, September 29, 2026. In Ukraine, winter is coming
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: and that means 14 hours of darkness each night, temperatures
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: of minus 20 Celsius, bitter snows and frozen rivers. As
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: we approach five years of Vladimir Putin's relentless so-called special
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: military operations, Today we're asking, can Ukraine and her 37
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: million people last another winter? And will Australia's latest commitment
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: make any real difference? That's today's story.
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  Speaker 2: I think Russia thought it could just steamroll through in
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  Speaker 2: a matter of weeks. And what we have found is
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  Speaker 2: that the people of Ukraine were underestimated and their commitment.
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  Speaker 3: So it's my friend.
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  Speaker 1: With that, a tearful Anthony Albanese hugged Ukraine's President Volodymyr
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  Speaker 1: Zelensky in New York last week, signing a 10-year bilateral
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  Speaker 1: security agreement with $ 60 million in new contributions to bring
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Australia's total commitment to $ 1. 9 billion over the past five years.
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  Speaker 1: That's been mainly in the form of Australian Defence Force gear,
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  Speaker 1: Bushmaster vehicles, tanks, drones and humanitarian assistance. The M1A1 Abrams
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: model has been Australia's tank of choice for nearly two decades.
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  Speaker 1: I can't think of a more suitable tank for the
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  Speaker 1: sort of conflict they're engaging in. These tanks are in
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  Speaker 1: good condition. They will be able to make a significant
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  Speaker 1: difference on the battlefield. Ukraine wants more, specifically helicopters and
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  Speaker 1: fighter jets, but Australia hasn't yet committed those. And the
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  Speaker 1: real battleground this winter is the energy grid. Russia has
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  Speaker 1: scaled up its missile and drone attacks on Ukraine's power
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  Speaker 1: plants and gas supply networks as Ukraine fires back on
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  Speaker 1: Russia's oil refineries. Ukraine has also developed networks of underground
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  Speaker 1: emergency shelters, headed by gas, but it's desperate to secure
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  Speaker 1: more supply from Europe. At the same time, European countries
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  Speaker 1: are warning their citizens to reduce demand as much as possible,
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  Speaker 1: given the global resources squeeze caused by the Middle East crisis.
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  Speaker 3: They will survive because we've seen them survive horrendous winters
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  Speaker 3: in the last couple of years.
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  Speaker 1: Jacqueline Magne is The Australian's Europe correspondent.
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  Speaker 3: This is straight out of Russia's playbook to attack the
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  Speaker 3: energy sources and to try and make life as uncomfortable
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  Speaker 3: as possible for the Ukrainians and to try and break them. Now,
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  Speaker 3: they haven't done that so far. I don't expect that
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: this winter they will do the same either. Of course,
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  Speaker 3: during winter, the fighting becomes this incredible stalemate, a trench
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  Speaker 3: warfare situation. where the fighting is conducted via drones. It's
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  Speaker 3: all in the air by fighters directing drones against each other,
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  Speaker 3: counter drones, and using drones to drop off equipment and supplies,
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  Speaker 3: blood supplies, medical equipment. And so the warfare has changed,
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  Speaker 3: but those that are conducting the warfare can be in
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  Speaker 3: relative warmth, at least inside somewhere. So they're not exposed
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  Speaker 3: to the elements in what we may normally think a
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  Speaker 3: fighting campaign might be.
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  Speaker 1: One of the hidden parts of this war has been
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  Speaker 1: Ukraine's missing children. There are estimates that 20,000 Ukrainian children
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  Speaker 1: have been lost behind Russian lines since Russia occupied Crimea
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  Speaker 1: in the south in 2014. Why would Russia want to
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  Speaker 1: take those children back to the motherland?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I spoke to this charity organisation called Save Ukraine.
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  Speaker 3: Mykola Kaliba, who is the head of this organisation, he
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  Speaker 3: founded it. He's actually a Nobel Prize nominee this year
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  Speaker 3: because of his work trying to rescue the children. He
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  Speaker 3: has identified that initially the work was getting children out
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  Speaker 3: in the chaos of war when it first started and
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  Speaker 3: over more than 150,000 families, children, people were helped to
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  Speaker 3: relocate out of the war zone. But those that remained,
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  Speaker 3: and he thought there's about 30% of families stayed in
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  Speaker 3: the Donbass area and also in Crimea, and that's the
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  Speaker 3: areas occupied by Russia. And now they've, over the last
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  Speaker 3: four years, been trying to get those children who want
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  Speaker 3: to leave out of those occupied areas. Now, initially they
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  Speaker 3: did want to leave, but in the years since they've
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  Speaker 3: been bombarded with Russian propaganda and They are in Russian schools,
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  Speaker 3: Russian culture. They go to a Russian military academy at
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  Speaker 3: the age of 14. They have no VPNs. So they
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  Speaker 3: say it's like behind the Berlin Wall. They cannot get
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  Speaker 3: current accurate information about what's going on. So all they
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  Speaker 3: can believe is what the Russians have been telling them.
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  Speaker 3: And these children are now of an age where they're
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  Speaker 3: being conscripted to the Russian army. And so this rescue
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  Speaker 3: mission has changed from trying to extract children, vulnerable children
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  Speaker 3: out of Ukraine to now helping those children who are
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  Speaker 3: being conscripted into the Russian army that don't want to
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  Speaker 3: be conscripted and don't want to fight for Russia and
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  Speaker 3: enabling them to be able to get through the border
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  Speaker 3: and into a safe country. And there's many ways they
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  Speaker 3: do it. They look at various different situations, whether they're orphans,
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  Speaker 3: whether their parents are in the Ukraine army, whether They've
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  Speaker 3: got family. Every situation is different, but they all involve
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  Speaker 3: having to cross the Russian checkpoint. And that, of course,
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  Speaker 3: is the most vulnerable time because one in seven don't
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  Speaker 3: get through. And they have to come up with some
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  Speaker 3: very creative reasons and backstories as to why they need
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  Speaker 3: to leave Russia. But they're managing to get, you know,
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  Speaker 3: in the last three months, they got 130 children out.
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  Speaker 3: So their work is continuing, but it has evolved.
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  Speaker 1: Is the point of that, I suppose, abduction of children
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  Speaker 1: from Ukraine, is it kind of ethnic cleansing or is
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  Speaker 1: it about recruiting the next generation of Russian kind of
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  Speaker 1: acolytes and bringing them over onto Russia's side or is
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  Speaker 1: it something else?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think it's both. It is a definite strategy
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  Speaker 3: by Russia because we've seen them do this over several
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  Speaker 3: years now. The propaganda, it's a battle for the hearts
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  Speaker 3: and minds of a generation. And if they can convince
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  Speaker 3: the local population where they're fighting to that they are
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  Speaker 3: Russian and not Ukrainian, then half the battle is won,
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  Speaker 3: isn't it? Because that territory is held by Russians. Russia
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  Speaker 3: has been doing this for some time now. Not only
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  Speaker 3: do they, you know, the hearts and minds of the locals,
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  Speaker 3: if they're won over or they're unable to express any
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  Speaker 3: support or sympathy for Ukraine, Russia is also bringing in Russians.
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  Speaker 3: A lot of Chechnyans are in Mariupol, for instance. Russians
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  Speaker 3: are provided with free or very discounted housing in the
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  Speaker 3: occupied areas. So Russia is trying to flood the occupied
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  Speaker 3: areas with Russian locals, as well as also having a
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  Speaker 3: generation of young former Ukrainian or current Ukrainian, but very
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  Speaker 3: reluctant Russians to become fodder in the war. Of course,
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  Speaker 3: it's a shocking situation. But it's been going on for
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  Speaker 3: many years now and obviously this is the whole heart
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  Speaker 3: of the war, isn't it, you know, to what does
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  Speaker 3: the next generation of people living in that area want?
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  Speaker 3: And Russia wants them to be Russian and they're doing
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  Speaker 3: everything in their power to do that.
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  Speaker 1: Music Coming up, more of my conversation with Jacqueline Magne.
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  Speaker 1: Music You've been with Ukrainian troops as they're being trained
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  Speaker 1: in places like Poland and the United Kingdom. Tell me
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  Speaker 1: what that's like and what sort of people are they?
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  Speaker 3: Well, they're very friendly. They're very appreciative of the skills
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  Speaker 3: that they're being given and that other countries, they take
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  Speaker 3: a lot of solace from the fact that Australians from
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: so far away are willing to train them and become
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  Speaker 3: involved in their fight. They really take heart from that. Interestingly,
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  Speaker 3: one of the instructors that I spoke to at the
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  Speaker 3: last time where I was in a camp in Poland
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  Speaker 3: where Australia was helping to train them alongside Nordic countries
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  Speaker 3: and the Americans said to me, you know, he has
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  Speaker 3: fond memories of Australia because he was in a Bushmaster
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  Speaker 3: on the front lines. And so it had a little
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: kangaroo on the side. And so he had this picture
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  Speaker 3: that he showed me of the Bushmaster with the kangaroo
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  Speaker 3: and himself standing very proudly beside it. And he had
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  Speaker 3: that picture in his wallet. So Australia is having an impact,
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  Speaker 3: even though we think we're so far away from the conflict.
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  Speaker 3: In many ways, we're not.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, we've contributed really practical assistance in the form of
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: those bushmasters and armoured personnel carriers. We haven't given Ukraine
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  Speaker 1: everything they've wanted, though. Do you think Australia has done enough?
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  Speaker 3: Australia has given $ 1. 9 billion. now. The latest tranche was
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  Speaker 3: a 60 million pound pledge and a lot of that
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  Speaker 3: goes into what's called Pearl and that's a collective fund
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  Speaker 3: by the Western countries where they have, Ukraine has a
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  Speaker 3: wish list of items that they want to to purchase
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  Speaker 3: these items or to have these items donated. So Australia
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  Speaker 3: is contributing in a very practical way because they are
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: part of this scheme. And so therefore, those items are
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  Speaker 3: the ones that the Ukraine have identified as being the
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  Speaker 3: most valuable. Of course, Ukraine would say, please give us more. And,
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  Speaker 3: you know, the UK has given £ 25 billion, which is
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  Speaker 3: $ 50 billion Australian. So Australia's $ 1. 9 billion in comparison. You
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  Speaker 3: can see the difference there.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Do you think Vladimir Putin thinks that he's winning this war?
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  Speaker 3: I don't think he thinks he's winning it. I think
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  Speaker 3: certainly this battle has gone on far, far longer than
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  Speaker 3: what he expected. And we've just seen in the recent
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  Speaker 3: elections he's just been given confirmation of his power. So
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  Speaker 3: he doesn't think that that war has harmed him in
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  Speaker 3: any way politically. But of course, he has millions of people,
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  Speaker 3: he's just drafting in more and more and more. And
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  Speaker 3: I think he's trying to wear down Ukraine. But Ukraine
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  Speaker 3: has been so steadfast and so determined that people I'm
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  Speaker 3: speaking to involved in the military areas, the operations, Ukraine
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  Speaker 3: are now a little bit concerned about as well that
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  Speaker 3: when the war finishes and hopefully that's as soon as
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  Speaker 3: possible that they will have a generation of battle-hardened young
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  Speaker 3: people and they're really worried how does the country come
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  Speaker 3: back from that how do you deal with all of
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  Speaker 3: these people and who for most of their young lives
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  Speaker 3: have been fighting and involved in just dreadful warfare and
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  Speaker 3: seen dreadful things. How does the country actually cope and
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  Speaker 3: deal with that? And that's something people are already looking
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  Speaker 3: at and trying to work out what they're going to do.
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  Speaker 1: Jacqueline Magne, thank you very much.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you.
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  Speaker 1: Jacqueline Magne is The Australian's Europe correspondent.