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Shadowing practice: Ukraine fires new wave of drones at St. Petersburg | DW News

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  1. Now, Ukrainians again targeted points around the Russian city of St.0:00
  2. Petersburg, setting an oil refinery alight and reportedly killing one person.0:06
  3. The drone attacks are targeting Vladimir Putin's home city, while it hosts a prestigious International Business Summit.0:12
  4. Earlier this week, similar strike damaged another oil terminal, sending plumes of black smoke into the skies over the city.0:19
  5. The barrage of attacks has forced St.0:26
  6. Petersburg to close its airport several times during the economic forum.0:28
  7. Bob Murat is a former vice admiral in the US Navy and his deputy director of the Institute for Security Policy and Law at Syracuse University.0:36
  8. He joins us now.0:46
  9. It's good to have you with us.0:48
  10. We have seen one of the largest Ukrainian drone attacks of the war targeting St.0:49
  11. Petersburg.0:55
  12. What does this tell us about where the conflict is heading?0:56
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  1. Good to be back with you again.1:02
  2. I think it tells you that the Ukrainians are determined to hold at risk different parts of Russia, both their energy sector and other targets that are of high interest,1:04
  3. including maritime related targets, the Navy based Stairby, which is also attacked.1:14
  4. They're capable of doing this and continuing to put pressure upon the Kremlin to hopefully cover some kind of a negotiated solution.1:18
  5. On that note, Ukraine saying it's targeted the city of Kronstadt's naval base as well as the naval arsenal in the region.1:27
  6. How significant are these naval targets, at least from a military perspective?1:36
  7. Tommy, thank you for actually answering a question about a naval matter because I appreciate that as a former flag officer in the Navy.1:43
  8. But what we're seeing in Kronstadt is probably an expansion of something which is kind of lost in the news, which is the fact that the Ukrainians have really won1:49
  9. the maritime war.1:59
  10. Certainly in the Black Sea, they've held at risk and really pushed the Russian Navy all the way to the extreme Eastern reaches of the Black Sea and other parts2:00
  11. because they can't operate safely there anymore.2:10
  12. The other thing, as you say, the attack on the naval base right outside St.2:12
  13. Petersburg on the Gulf of Finland is a major point of access for any operations that the Russian Navy may wish to conduct in the Baltic with our NATO allies,2:16
  14. Finland, Sweden and Norway nearby.2:25
  15. So holding that at risk as well, I think is actually sending a strong signal to the Kremlin on things that the Ukrainians are capable of doing to make things2:28
  16. far more difficult, we're not just the ground forces, but also the naval forces.2:36
  17. Speaking of making things more difficult, Russia is saying it's intercepted hundreds of drones overnight.2:42
  18. Yet some of these drones still reached strategic targets.2:47
  19. Just wondering if this is becoming a war of attrition against Russia's air defense network as much as against military infrastructure.2:51
  20. Tommy, as I say, I think it is a war of attrition, but one that is carefully planned in terms of the target set that the Ukrainians are going after3:01
  21. specifically in their energy sector, notwithstanding the increase in oil prices because of the war relative to the Persian Gulf.3:10
  22. Russia is still in a bad place relative to petroleum and other supplies for their own people.3:19
  23. We've had to rationing and cut back in some of the occupied areas of Ukraine and elsewhere.3:24
  24. So I think that's just in terms of whatever targets that the Ukrainians go after.3:28
  25. It makes sense to hold data at risk because it's likely to put more pressure on the small circle of leadership that Putin has inside the Kremlin.3:33
  26. And this comes not long after Vladimir Putin rejected Volodymyr Zelensky's proposal for direct talks.3:41
  27. Just wondering if this suggests that Moscow believes it can still achieve its military objectives.3:49
  28. Yeah, Tommy, they may believe they can, but they really can't.3:58
  29. I mean, as you know, the discussion about what both within Russia are relative to Ukraine has kind of shifted.4:02
  30. They're talking about the post -puting era now, which is something that really just emerged in the last couple of months.4:10
  31. The other thing is the battlefield realities have changed really just in the last two months or so.4:15
  32. Ukraine has been successful in pulling back some additional territory that actually done tactical level mechanized infantry attacks, which is new, something we haven't seen in some time there.4:21
  33. It had some significant successes on the battlefield.4:31
  34. So I think it's continuing to wrap up the pressure on Kremlin and a small circle of people there and also changing the discussion as we were saying inside of4:34
  35. Russia.4:43
  36. And the sort of US -led peace efforts appear to be stalling or stalled.4:44
  37. At this point, do you see either side acting as if negotiations could happen again or are they just sort of preparing for a prolonged war?4:51
  38. Yeah, Tommy, I think negotiations are always taking place directly or indirectly.5:04
  39. That applies not just to Ukraine and Russia, but also relative to things that are happening in the Middle East.5:08
  40. It's just constant communications.5:13
  41. But I think they are still up for good reason.5:15
  42. I think in relative to any US sponsorship, there's been some pressure put upon Kiev to cede the vital territory that they have from the strategic standpoint in the Donbass5:18
  43. and Donas.5:28
  44. It's called the fortress belt to be foolish for the Ukrainian people to just give that over to the Russians.5:29
  45. It wouldn't make any sense to be put at hazard, not just Kiev and other cities, but really the entire eastern part of Ukraine because the fortress belt is a5:35
  46. tremendous operational experience and importance.5:44
  47. So I think they're going to stay in that place for a while until Putin and his team come off their maximalist demands that they want to have not just5:48
  48. for Ukraine, but also for other countries in Western Europe to what they call reset the conditions for the relationship between Russia and the European countries.5:56
  49. Yeah, I guess there's one thing to plan for prolonged war is another to be able to actually sustain it with the manpower, with the equipment, with everything.6:05
  50. Where do you see this heading in that point?6:16
  51. Yeah, hopefully a diplomatic solution sooner rather later, Tommy.6:21
  52. And one that would, you know, this is a tragedy for the Russian people.6:25
  53. They're taking horrific casualties, which the Kremlin doesn't seem to be terribly concerned about.6:28
  54. I mean, tens of thousands of people every month, their soldiers.6:33
  55. And the Ukrainians are, you know, the ratio of the casualties Russia to Ukraine continues to be very, very lopsided.6:37
  56. And the lack of interest that the Kremlin has and the horrific casualties they've been taking up to more than 300 ,000 kill in action is noteworthy and really just6:45
  57. a tragedy.6:56
  58. The other point I would make on that is, and there's absolutely no question from a neutral standpoint that the military leadership in Ukraine is far, far better than the6:57
  59. Russian military leadership.7:06
  60. What they have achieved and, you know, Ukraine does have the most operationally capable and effective army in Europe by a long, long stretch.7:08
  61. And we're continuing to see evidence of that every day and even some changes, as we talked about earlier, just in the last month or two for increased battlefield successes.7:19
  62. Bob Moritz, we appreciate your insights.7:28
  63. Thank you for speaking to us.7:31
  64. It's good to see you, Tommy.7:33
  65. Good day.7:34

English Listening Practice with a B2 DW News Interview on the St. Petersburg Strikes

This clip gives you english listening practice with a real B2 level news interview, not a scripted lesson. DW News anchors a segment on Ukraine's drone strikes around St. Petersburg, then hands off to Bob Murat, a former US Navy vice admiral now at Syracuse University, for on air analysis. At 181 words per minute the pace is faster than 45 percent of the catalogue, so the guest has to compress complex ideas into single sentences without slowing down.

The mixed accent between anchor and guest means you get two distinct voices to track in one recording, useful if your goal is understanding real broadcast English rather than one speaker's rhythm. Across 77 lines the topic stays concrete: an oil refinery set alight, an airport closed several times, a naval base at Kronstadt. That specificity is what makes each line worth repeating out loud, you are practising the vocabulary a war correspondent actually uses, not a textbook approximation of it.

Everyday English Under Pressure: How the Naval Analyst Actually Talks

This is everyday english under real time pressure, two speakers finishing thoughts about a fast moving story without slowing down for the microphone.

  • "I think it tells you that the Ukrainians are determined to hold at risk different parts of Russia, both their energy sector and other targets that are of high interest," runs on with no pause for breath, this is exactly the phrasing you need if you want to speak english fluently in unscripted, high pressure speech.
  • "Tommy, thank you for actually answering a question about a naval matter because I appreciate that as a former flag officer in the Navy." opens with a first name aside before the real point starts, a small, very natural conversational move that a script would never include.
  • "But what we're seeing in Kronstadt is probably an expansion of something which is kind of lost in the news, which is the fact that the Ukrainians have really won" keeps stacking clauses instead of stopping, so your voice has to keep pace or lose the thread, good material if you want to improve your english speaking under time pressure.
  • "It's good to have you with us." and "Good to be back with you again." are the anchor and guest greeting each other, short, warm, and worth copying if you want the rhythm of a real studio handoff rather than a textbook greeting.

How to Shadow This DW News Segment Line by Line

Start your english speaking practice on lines 1 and 2, they are one sentence split by the city name, so read them together before you try to speak them.

  • Lines 1 and 2: "Now, Ukrainians again targeted points around the Russian city of St." into "Petersburg, setting an oil refinery alight and reportedly killing one person." Say them as a single unbroken sentence first, then shadow this line at full speed once the join feels natural.
  • Line 3: the summit sentence is long and unbroken, listen to it once without pausing, then shadow it in one breath to build up to the clip's 181 word per minute pace.
  • Line 14: "I think it tells you that the Ukrainians are determined to hold at risk different parts of Russia, both their energy sector and other targets that are of high interest," is dense, split it into two breath groups on your own, and repeat until both halves come out clean.
  • Lines 19 to 21: the Kronstadt exchange, "Tommy, thank you for actually answering a question about a naval matter because I appreciate that as a former flag officer in the Navy." through "the maritime war." Shadow the whole exchange as one continuous turn to practise holding an analyst's train of thought without dropping the pace.
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