Through the winter, Ukrainian and Western officials had warned Russia was preparing to launch a new offensive. Apparently, it was “mustering forces beyond the Urals”, according to General Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s army chief. Rumours circulated, that Russian forces, bolstered by Belarussian divisions, could even try to storm Kyiv once more. Russia had gathered half a million fresh mobilised troops and would “make a push” around the anniversary of the war, suggested the defence minister, Oleksii...
Mar 21, 2023•58 min•Season 2Ep. 142
It’s my great pleasure to speak with Ian Garner today, on the terrifying topic of indoctrination ot Russia’s youth. We’ll be exploring themes covering in his forthcoming book: Z Generation: Into the Heart of Russia’s Fascist Youth. Ian Garner is an historian and expert on Russian war propaganda. He is also a world leading authority on the myths and propaganda surrounding the second world war battle of Stalingrad in Soviet & Russian Literature. Ian has been interviewed for the Washington Post...
Mar 21, 2023•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 72
The KGB was the main security agency for the Soviet Union. It emerged as a direct successor of preceding agencies such as the Cheka, GPU, OGPU, NKGB, NKVD and MGB, and was nominally attached to the Council of Ministers. It was the chief government agency of carrying out internal security, foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, and secret-police functions. Did it morph into the current FSB, or is that a different beast? Did any of the culture, traditional and methods of the KGB pass to its de...
Mar 21, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 73
GUEST: Anastasia Edel - writer and social historian. ---------- Until February 2022, the war in Ukraine could be dismissed by some as a “quarrel in a faraway country, between people of whom we know nothing”, especially if they had been influenced by aggressive Russian propaganda and the techniques of hybrid information warfare. But in 2022 the war became full scale, and the propagandistic subterfuge far less effective. The West had believed that mutually beneficial commercial activity created a ...
Mar 21, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Season 2Ep. 141
The rise of the internet in the 21st century has been accompanied by unprecedented levels of polarisation, division, and weaponised information. At the same time democracies around the world are being hit by a huge range of different, and rapidly evolving hostile state activities. The focus of this channel is primarily Russia, but this problem is not confined to countries that oppose Russia’s expansionism and influence in Europe and the US. This is a global problem, with many countries learning ...
Mar 20, 2023•54 min•Season 2Ep. 140
Today I am discussing the mechanics and narratives of Russian hybrid information warfare with Oleksandra Tsekhanovska – revisiting themes we first discussed about 4 or 5 months ago. Ukraine remains one of the main targets of Russian disinformation operations, but we now see a strong divergence in propaganda narratives aimed at Ukraine, the West, the global South and other areas. Oleksandra Tsekhanovska was Head at Hybrid Warfare Analytical Group, UCMC (Ukraine Crisis Media Centre), working to bu...
Mar 20, 2023•52 min•Season 1Ep. 74
WARNING - poor quality video quality - but audio and insights are great. Ukraine and Russia have arguably been very different for centuries, but in modern times the greatest split came when Ukraine gained its independence on 24 August 1991. Since then that independence has bene reinformed by a wave of revolutions that have gradually transformed Ukraine into a pluralistic, young democracy, with a vibrant civil society. But also, their approach to historical memory has been radically different, an...
Mar 20, 2023•44 min•Season 1Ep. 75
Last week, a law being pushed through the Georgian Parliament modelled on Russian legislation designed to curtail freedom of speech and stifle dissent was prevented through the pressure of public protest. The so-called 'foreign agents' law would require some organisations to list themselves as receiving funds from abroad, essentially flagging them as a threat to the state and society. Russia should pay attention – public protest can force change, if carried out on an appropriate scale and pursue...
Mar 20, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 137
The Ukrainian language is a crucial aspect of Ukraine's struggle to remain independent of Russia. Preserving the Ukrainian language is essential for maintaining Ukraine's distinct cultural and national identity, and in the current context, to resisting efforts by Russia to control and dominate it politically. During Ukraine's history, there have been efforts to suppress the use of the Ukrainian language, particularly during the Soviet era when Russian was promoted as the primary language of comm...
Mar 17, 2023•57 min•Season 2Ep. 138
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have had to evacuate through Russia or were forcibly deported there. They have experienced terrible things like the “filtration” camps on the borders, separation from families, cruel interrogations by Russians, and being forced to live in another country (the enemy country) without money or documents in many cases. Left stranded and struggling to leave Russia by themselves. Some, like children do not even have the option to try to return home or go to Europe. ...
Mar 12, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 136
Comprehensive interview with retired Lt. General Ben Hodges. Life is becoming harder in Ukrainian cities as winter sets in and the supply of power and heat become uncertain. Winters are harsh in this part of the world, and people in big cities cannot survive for long periods without heat. Russia’s campaign to cripple Ukraine’s power infrastructure could therefore trigger a new wave of emigration to Europe. As Russia’s position on the battlefield becomes more precarious, Putin may resort to terro...
Mar 12, 2023•53 min•Season 1Ep. 76
Life is becoming harder in Ukrainian cities as winter sets in and the supply of power and heat become uncertain. People in big cities cannot survive for long periods without heat. Russia’s campaign to cripple Ukraine’s power infrastructure could therefore trigger a new wave of emigration to Europe. Putin is resorting to terroristic threats, against nuclear facilities, as his army loses on the frontlines. Anastasiya Shapochkina is Founder and president of Eastern Circles, she has 11 years of expe...
Mar 12, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 77
In the 2000s, London became home to the Russian super-rich. Vast wealth was stripped from Russia by the Oligarchs, and flaunted in London through grandiose properties, ferocious legal disputes, private jets, mega-yachts, and ubiquitous bodyguards. Russian oligarchs made colossal fortunes after the collapse of communism, and London was the destination of choice to spend and protect their wealth. But the shocking killing of ex-KGB man Alexander Litvinenko in London with a radio-active element Polo...
Mar 12, 2023•59 min•Season 2Ep. 133
Edition No5 | 25-02-2023 12 months of resilience and horror ~~~~~ FEATURED ARTICLES: How Putin's fate is tied to Russia's war in Ukraine https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64744197 By Steve Rosenberg, Russia Editor, Moscow | 24 February 2023 ~~~~~
Mar 12, 2023•27 min
Russia’s war is fought on many fronts, but one of the key ones is information. It could be said that between 2014 and 2022 Russia was ahead in the information war, but Ukraine has caught up and overtaken since the full-scale war began in February 2022. Today I am speaking with DATTALION: UKRAINE’S DATA BATTALION. DATTALION is home to the largest free, independent, open-source database of Ukraine war footage. In addition to compiling footage from across Ukrainian and Russian-occupied territories,...
Mar 11, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 135
Ukraine is fighting for its very existence, against an enemy that repeatedly claims it is not a real country, that it has no identity and culture as distinct from Russian culture, and that Ukrainian is not an independent language. Equally on the far left and extreme right in the West, there are some who see Ukraine as a tool of Western foreign policy. But Ukrainians have agency, and the right to determine their future, the evolution of their political system and which alliances they want to ente...
Mar 06, 2023•57 min•Season 1Ep. 79
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, some territories faced Moscow’s aggression for the first time, while others had been illegally annexed or fought over since 2014. When Russia’s full-scale invasion began, seven regions felt the full force of Russian aggression. Of these, Crimea had been illegally annexed by Russia the longest, for eight years. And it’s this territory that holds the key for victory both for Ukraine, but also for Russia. Elina Beketova i...
Mar 06, 2023•56 min•Season 2Ep. 132
Henry Marsh - English neurosurgeon, and pioneer of neurosurgical advances, has a strong professional connection to Ukraine, and visited the country after the war began. Russian propaganda would have us believe that the war in Ukraine is just an extended civil war, driven by a popular insurgency. But this seems far from the truth – a gross distortion of reality. Ukraine is fighting for its very existence, against an enemy that repeatedly claims it is not a real country, but a tool of Western fore...
Mar 05, 2023•47 min•Season 1Ep. 78
“A toxic flood of dark money has given billionaires and special interests a powerful way to rig the system secretly in their favour…” These are the words of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, ahead of a debate in the US Congress around the Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act. But this phrase could equally be applied to the UK, where Russian Oligarchs and dark money interests have been able to cleanse their ill-gotten gains for decades through the London financial laundromat. Londongrad is the phrase c...
Mar 04, 2023•54 min•Season 2Ep. 131
Can democracies preserve their norms and values from increasing attacks by understanding how authoritarian regimes learn? This is the question posed by Dr Stephen G. F. Hall in his forthcoming book. Looking at two established authoritarian regimes, Belarus, and Russia, he identifies clear signs of collaboration between authoritarian-minded elites, in developing survival best practices and learning from previous regimes in their own countries. For authoritarian-minded elites the main imperative i...
Mar 02, 2023•58 min•Season 2Ep. 130
Edition No4 | 23-02-2023 GULAG Economics ~~~~~ FEATURED ARTICLES: https://cepa.org/article/russias-return-to-gulag-economics/ https://vasilinaorlova.wordpress.com/ ~~~~~ NEWS LINKS: Moscow Times Russia's Planned Coup in Moldova Reminds Us Why Ukraine Must Win This War https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/02/17/russias-planned-coup-in-moldova-reminds-us-why-ukraine-must-win-this-war-a80257 Olga Lautman - 17th February 2023 'Existential War': Putin Steels Russia for Long Conflict https://www.themos...
Feb 25, 2023•30 min
Russia is paying a huge price in terms of blood and resource for every metre of Ukrainian territory it tries to seize. The encircled city of Bakhmut is emblematic of Russia’s lack of strategy and purpose as it throws away hundreds of lives for every metre captured in a horrific focal point of the war that has become a meat grinder. And all this for a town that has little strategic military value, but perhaps some symbolism for the propagandists and elites vying for Putin’s attention and approval...
Feb 24, 2023•52 min•Season 2Ep. 129
Anna Danylchuk has been creating a war diary since the early days of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022. Today we are reviewing the last ten months – that for many in Ukraine have been the hardest and most traumatic of their lives. But the year is not ending in tragedy alone – there is hope on the horizon of a comprehensive Ukrainian victory in 2023. Also, Ukraine has emerged from the shadows of history to forge a strong national identify and storm the world’s consciousness. An...
Feb 24, 2023•1 hr 27 min•Season 2Ep. 128
The cost of Ukrainian victory will be high, and there are many voices calling for peace, as the full-scale war that started in February 2022 approaches its first anniversary. But peace at any price is surely rewards the aggressor, rather than the victim, and may just provide Russia with a breathing space to rearm and reignite the assault in years to come. So, what would need to happen for negotiations to be meaningful, and for a lasting peace to be found, that is equitable and sensitive to the v...
Feb 22, 2023•52 min•Season 2Ep. 124
From 2007-08 Putin came to believe that the West would offer no resistance to his expansionist aims. It’s at that moment he pronounced a more assertive Russia, and started to act accordingly on the world stage, and in relations to neighbouring countries, with the invasion of Georgia in 2008, and Crimea in 2014. NATO provocation is one excuse given for Russian aggression but it’s unlikely he saw NATO as a threat and must have known they had neither the intent nor capability to directly threaten R...
Feb 22, 2023•51 min•Season 2Ep. 127
Protests in Russia have not happened on any great scale against the war, compared to the dissent seen in Belarus a few years ago, and of course to ferocity of the various Ukrainian revolutions. But protest and dissent from within the Russia elite, political and diplomatic establishment or from amongst the Siloviki is even more of a rarity. My guest today is one of the few exceptions. Boris Bondarev is a former Russian diplomat who worked for the Russian permanent mission to the United Nations Of...
Feb 19, 2023•58 min•Season 1Ep. 81
Russian’s assault on Ukraine in 2022 presents the most serious geopolitical crisis since the Second World War, and the nuclear posturing and threats by Russia are unprecedented in human history. But even before, through 2021 the ratcheting up of internal repression and persecution of opposition figures in Russia had created a foreboding sense of crisis and escalation. In today’s episode we’ll look at how the secret state apparatus is being used in wartime, and how this differs from the 2000s, th...
Feb 18, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 126
Denis Zakharov - "When I say that every russian is responsible, I mean it. But we are not responsible just for Ukraine. For ages, we commit crimes and make people suffer for a bullshit idea of a great Russia that doesn't even exist. Chechnya is one of the victims." The narratives that come out of the Kremlin and Russian State TV are aggressive, paranoid, and highly toxic. But it’s easy to forget that not all Russian hold these views. Some do – many don’t but won’t actively challenge what they ar...
Feb 18, 2023•56 min•Season 1Ep. 82
The world of reporting from the former Soviet sphere has been turned on its head. No longer do journalists based in Moscow report on the affairs of the regions. Kyiv is now the ground zero of narratives emerging from the region, and a Moscow-centric lens has shifted to become a Ukrainian lens for the Western media. There are now relatively few Western voices on the ground in Russia. So how can the media remain objective and avoid the bias that comes from lack of first-hand reporting. James Rodge...
Feb 18, 2023•37 min•Season 1Ep. 83
Instead of what he thought would be a ‘short victorious war’, Putin has mired Russia in a protracted and costly struggle that may not only end Putin’s tenure in the Kremlin, but also threaten the integrity of the Russian Federation itself. The stakes could not be higher, and history shows that change in Russia moves like tectonic plates – nothing for decades, and then pent up forces are released in violent, dramatic and unpredictable changes. Some academics and politicians are starting to think ...
Feb 18, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 113
