'We're only months away from the first political assassination by drone' – with Francis Dearnley

'We're only months away from the first political assassination by drone' – with Francis Dearnley

From The Edition by The Spectator

June 11, 2026 · 51 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the implications of drone technology, and the upcoming Makerfield by-election.

For this week’s  Edition , William Moore is joined by the  Spectator 's commissioning editor Lara Brown, the columnist for the Wall Street Journal’s  Free Expression  newsletter Louise Perry and the  Telegraph  journalist and presenter of  Ukraine: The Latest  Francis Dearnley. This week: Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has now gone on longer than the first world war and it shares much of the horrors of that war, from attrition warfare to substantial losses on both sides. So, with over half a million Russians estimated to be killed, could Putin and Zelensky be brought to an exhausted peace? ’No’ is the pessimistic answer from Francis Dearnley this week, who explains that while it might appear to be stuck in a stalemate, casualties are still rising rapidly and Ukraine is currently in the strongest position it has been in for almost 18 months. This is in part due to advances in drone technology, of which Ukraine is now the world’s leading ’superpower’. Drone technology has evolved so rapidly that Francis predicts ‘we are only a few months away from our first political assassination by drone’. What could bring the war to an…

People in this episode

Host: William Moore

Guests: Lara Brown, Louise Perry, Francis Dearnley

Topics covered

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Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Spectator, Wall Street Journal, Telegraph

Places: Ukraine, Russia, Britain

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