Ep. 41 - What's Putin up to? With Balkan Devlen and Hanna Shelest

In the latest episode of Pod Bless Canada, MLI Senior Fellow Balkan Devlen was joined by Dr. Hanna Shelest, Editor-in-Chief of Ukraine Analytica and one of Ukraine’s sharpest analysts of international affairs. The two discuss last week’s announcement of sweeping changes to Russia’s constitution and their potential implications. Throughout the discussion, Dr. Shelest weighs in on what she suspects Russian President Vladimir Putin is up to as he sets about radically reforming Russia’s political institutions. Dr. Shelest unpacks how the proposed amendments could serve to maintain Putin’s grip on various levers of power in Russian politics, even after he ends his tenure as President. The discussion also extends to the potential impact of these changes with respect to Canada’s relationships with Russia, Ukraine, and other countries in the region.