Taras Byk's special mission is the breakup of the Russian Federation, a project that doesn't seem so far-fetched after the Prigozhin mutiny, and Putin’s endless aggression that is exhausting Russia’s military and economic reserves. Taras is a civil society activist and political strategist, who believes that Ukraine's Maidan Revolution, in which he participated, saved not only Ukraine but also Europe. Today we will be discussing the threat from a resurgent Russia, and the history of imperial exp...
May 16, 2024•50 min•Season 3Ep. 415
As the global geopolitical landscape undergoes significant transformations, the nuclear threat has taken on new dimensions. The Russia-Iran relationship is growing stronger. Khamenei endorsing Russia’s war in Ukraine — which has given Tehran more leverage in the bilateral relationship — while both countries try to weather unprecedented Western sanctions. Nonetheless, Russia’s ties with Iran remain complex, characterized by areas of cooperation, stalled plans and competition across various domain...
May 15, 2024•45 min•Season 3Ep. 413
Calder Walton is a world-leading expert on intelligence, national security, and geopolitics. He has written two books, the latest of which is “SPIES. The Epic Intelligence War between East and West” (2023). It is a best-selling exposé of the history of Russian intelligence, that challenges the idea that the Cold War ended with the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, but in fact continued after, down to the present day. Today, he argues, the West is in a new Cold War with Russia and China. ---------...
May 14, 2024•53 min•Season 3Ep. 414
Edition No44 | 13-05-2024 ~~~~~ Key developments on May 11,12: - Putin proposes firing Shoigu, appointing new defense minister - Zelensky says Russian troops try to "gain a foothold" in Kharkiv Oblast; heavy fighting ongoing - Russia's breakthrough attempt halted, situation in several sectors' changing rapidly,' Syrskyi says - Russia attacks 106 infrastructure facilities in Ukraine in one day - Media: Ukrainian drones attack military targets in 3 Russian oblasts overnight - Russia seeking to bla...
May 13, 2024•49 min
Safe Unsound | Documentary What is Safe Unsound about? Three Ukrainian families find a foothold in a remote corner of Ireland. How temporary is their life there? No one knows. ---------- LINKS: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/d-j-b/safe-unsound-documentary ---------- THE TEAM: Daniel James Baldwin - Director and Producer Hannah Tookey - Producer Steve Lacey - Executive Producer Daria Korsak - Editor and Translator Jackie Teboul - Director of Photography ---------- In Spring 2022, the plight...
May 11, 2024•1 hr•Season 3Ep. 411
Eto Buziashvili is an expert in Influence operations, foreign interference, social media manipulation and digital authoritarianism. She is a Research Associate at the Atlantic Council. Her work has been cited by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, BBC, Foreign Policy, and Voice of America, among other media outlets and global magazines. ---------- LINKS: https://twitter.com/EtoBuziashvili https://www.linkedin.com/in/eto-buziashvili/ https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/expert/eto-buziashvili/ --...
May 10, 2024•47 min•Season 3Ep. 409
Today I’m speaking with Jake Broe, a United States Air Force veteran who served for six years as a Nuclear and Missile Operations Officer. But you may know him better as one of the most prominent voices on YouTube throughout the war, someone with absolute moral clarity about who the victim of the war is – spoilers, it’s Ukraine – and who brings direct military experience to his detailed analysis of the unfolding conflict. Do please subscribe to his channel for videos updates on the war in Ukrain...
May 09, 2024•57 min•Season 3Ep. 410
Lesia Dubenko is a political scientist and an Alumna of Lund University, with an Msc in European Affairs. She has eight years of experience in political and social journalism and has been published in the Financial Times, Politico Europe, New Eastern Europe, Atlantic Council, KP. In August 2018 she entered the Ukrainian NGO sector, and has been cooperating with different Ukrainian NGOs, including “Europe without Barriers”, “Internews Ukraine”, “European Pravda” and more. ---------- SUPPORT THE C...
May 08, 2024•44 min•Season 3Ep. 399
Marika Mikiashvili is an expert on Hybrid threats, governance in Europe & Central Asia and identity in former communist states. She is based in Tbilisi, Georgia and has been actively following and commenting on the anti-government protests unfolding in Georgia. ---------- LINKS: https://twitter.com/Mikiashvili_M https://www.linkedin.com/in/marika-mikiashvili-245230194/ https://open.spotify.com/episode/7kWee8p9Ig74QNT1F0Nesz ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/silicon...
May 08, 2024•55 min•Season 3Ep. 408
Edition No43 | 06-05-2024 ~~~~~ SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ~~~~~ KYIV INDEPENDENT https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-war-latest-ukraine-may-use-british-weapons-to-strike-targets-inside-russia-cameron-says/ https://kyivindependent.com/battle-of-chasiv-yar-begins-under-a-drone-infested-sky/ https://kyivindependent.com/general-loss-of-chasiv-yar-likely-a-matter-of-time/ https://kyivindependent.com/italian-defense-minister...
May 06, 2024•46 min
Viktoras Bachmetjevas is a philosopher with an interest in ethics, especially the intersection of ethics and the philosophy of religion. Today we’ll be discussing issues as diverse as the threat from autocracy and oligarchy, corruption, and nepotism, and well as Forgiveness, contrition, and victimhood. ---------- LINKS: https://twitter.com/VBachmetjevas https://www.linkedin.com/in/viktoras-bachmetjevas-335a182/ https://www.iwm.at/fellow/viktoras-bachmetjevas https://parisinstitute.org/faculty/vi...
May 05, 2024•49 min•Season 3Ep. 406
Anna Nemzer is a Broadcast Journalist at the Russian oppositional news network TV RAIN. She has produced an extraordinary series of documentary videos on key moments in Russia’s return to autocracy under Putin, and stages in the consolidation of his power over society and the media. ---------- LINKS: https://pen.org/user/annanemzer/ https://twitter.com/tvrain_english ---------- BOOKS: Prisoner, Hardcover and Kindle (2016) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Prisoner-Anna-Nemzer-ebook/dp/B01BSXXTZ0/ref=sr_1...
May 04, 2024•51 min•Season 3Ep. 407
Ivan U. Kłyszcz is an analyst and researcher specializing in core issues of international security, notably great power competition, the grand strategy of major powers, and Russian foreign policy. In recent years, the research of Dr Klyszcz has focused on Moscow’s engagements with the countries of the so-called ‘Global South’, with particular focus on Africa, Latin America, and South Asia. His research has been extensively cited in international media (Al-Jazeera, BBC, Deutsche Welle, France 24)...
May 03, 2024•46 min•Season 3Ep. 405
Vladimir Putin's regime has increasingly been accused of embracing fascism, in its annexation of Crimea, its historical revisionism, attacks on liberal democratic values, and its support for far-right movements in Europe. These tendencies have accelerated with the full-scale war in Ukraine. So, does Russia now meet the diverse criteria for historic fascism, or it’s off-shoot, German Nazism? Russia has successfully muddied the waters, by branded itself as the world's preeminent antifascist power ...
May 02, 2024•1 hr•Season 3Ep. 403
Natalie Sabanadze is Senior Fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Program, at Chatham House. Natalie was Georgia’s Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg, and the EU and head of the Georgian mission to the European Union in May 2013. Prior to assuming her current position, Sabanadze worked as the senior adviser to the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities in The Hague. She held a number of posts with the OSCE HCNM, including head of Central and Southeast Europe section and more recently, head of E...
May 02, 2024•46 min•Season 3Ep. 404
Illia Ponomarenko is a Ukrainian journalist, war reporter and defence analyst formerly writing for The Kyiv Independent. In January 2023, given his prominent role in reporting from the conflict, he was described by Der Spiegel as "likely the best-known Ukrainian after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy". He has written an account of his experiences reporting on the war – I Will Show You How It Was: The Story of Wartime Kyiv (to be released in August 2024). ---------- BOOK SUMMARY: In late February 20...
Apr 30, 2024•57 min•Season 3Ep. 402
Ukraine will not succeed in liberating its lands without the provision of long-range missiles, argues Colby Badhwar. For Kyiv, the ability to strike operational and strategic targets deep inside enemy territory — i.e. inside Russia itself — is not a whim, but a crucial necessity. But are allies framing their strategy and aligning their production and logistic capabilities accordingly? The manufacturer of German TAURUS missiles has halted production due to a lack of orders. Meanwhile, Chancellor ...
Apr 29, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 3Ep. 401
Jen Stout is a journalist, writer, and radio producer from Scotland, frequently working in Ukraine. Originally from Shetland she has lived in Germany and Russia. Her reports are often found in the Sunday Post and on BBC Radio. And she’s written a fabulous book: Night Train to Odesa: Covering the Human Cost of Russia's War, which we’ll be discussing today. ---------- LINKS: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jen-stout-61903b53/ https://birlinn.co.uk/contributor/jen-stout/ https://jennybrownassociates.co...
Apr 28, 2024•47 min•Season 3Ep. 398
Ilya Ponomarev is a Russian-Ukrainian politician who was a member of the Russian State Duma from 2007 to 2016. After the 2022 Russian invasion, Ponomarev joined Ukraine's Territorial Defence Forces, and categorically denounced the invasion. While a member of the Russian State Duma, he was the only deputy not to vote in favour of the Russian gay propaganda law and to vote against Russia's annexation of Crimea in March 2014. In 2015, while in the US, Ponomarev was formally charged in Russia with e...
Apr 28, 2024•50 min•Season 3Ep. 400
Dr Taras Kuzio is a British academic and Professor of Political Science at the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, and an expert on politics, crime and security in Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia. Taras Kuzio is of Ukrainian descent and received a BA in economics from the University of Sussex, an MA in Soviet studies from the University of London and holds a doctorate in political science from the University of Birmingham; he was a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University. His most recent boo...
Apr 26, 2024•48 min•Season 3Ep. 395
GUEST: Anders Puck Nielsen - YouTuber and military analyst. ---------- Today I’m speaking with Anders Puck Nielsen, military analyst and influential YouTuber based in Denmark. He specialises in naval warfare and strategy; in today’s video we are going to be talking about Ukrainian successes against Russia’s Black Sea fleet and state of the ground war in Ukraine. ---------- LINKS: https://www.youtube.com/@anderspuck https://twitter.com/anderspuck https://www.linkedin.com/in/anderspucknielsen/ htt...
Apr 25, 2024•54 min•Season 3Ep. 397
Fears of Russia’s collapse in Biden’s and Scholz’s administrations run deep and can't be changed by telling stories of Russian war crimes alone. Advisers and analysts have been conditioned by decades of Soviet nuclear threat and memory of the chaotic and rapid collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. But what can turn politicians that cling to security blanket of escalation management, into leaders that imagine a Ukrainian victory, a triumph of pluralistic, democratic values, and plan accordin...
Apr 24, 2024•46 min•Season 3Ep. 396
Edition No42 | 23-04-2024 ~~~~~ SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ~~~~~ KYIV INDEPENDENT https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-war-latest-over-20-000-russian-troops-trying-to-storm-chasiv-yar-budanov-says-ukraine-to-face-difficult-situation-from-mid-may/ https://kyivindependent.com/breaking-u-s-house-passes-61-billion-ukraine-aid-bill/ https://kyivindependent.com/us-house-approves-bill-to-transfer-seized-russian-assets-to-ukrain...
Apr 23, 2024•34 min
Disinformation continues to be a threat to Ukrainian sovereignty and is also targeted at Western democracies and allies of Ukraine. Around the world aggressive information warfare threatens information security and social stability, especially in states which Russia seeks to destabilise or coerce into supporting it. As we saw in the 2016 US elections, it can potentially threaten results of voting, place undue influence on voters’ decisions and undermine democratic processes. This is more importa...
Apr 21, 2024•52 min•Season 3Ep. 394
Yuliya Ziskina is a Policy and advocacy attorney specializing in information policy and public international law from Ukraine. She is based in the New York City Metropolitan Area. ---------- LINKS: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliya-ziskina/ https://twitter.com/jziskina?lang=en https://www.wilsoncenter.org/person/yuliya-ziskina https://www.lawfaremedia.org/contributors/yziskina ARTICLES: https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-repo-act-confiscating-russian-state-assets-consistent-with-u.s.-and-...
Apr 21, 2024•52 min•Season 3Ep. 391
The approach to supporting Ukraine which Western leaders have been taking so far has been „as long as it takes“. The lack of a clearly defined end goal impacted the pace and scale of the assistance, as well as raised questions on its efficiency. It cannot last this way in the protracted war as Ukraine’s mobilisation potential and resources are shorter than Russia’s. Instead, a clear commitment of the West to aid Ukraine with „whatever it takes for a fast victory“ is the only way to return sustai...
Apr 19, 2024•53 min•Season 3Ep. 393
GUEST: Anna from Ukraine - Anna Danylchuk ---------- Anna Danylchuk has been creating a war diary since the early days of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022. Anna Danylchuk aims to tell the truth about Ukraine and Russia’s war and cut through the noise and propaganda. Anna is passionate about the beauty and independence of her country, and communicates this powerfully in her videos, in a clear and honest way. ---------- LINKS: https://www.youtube.com/@UCiVefOT4TGW3pOqW6AxmlBQ h...
Apr 18, 2024•54 min•Season 3Ep. 392
Welcome to our monthly conversation with Konstantin, who is one of the most respected voices on YouTube about what is happening Inside Russia. Konstantin Samoilov is a well-known YouTuber whose channel ‘Inside Russia’ comments insightfully on Russia’s decent into authoritarianism over the last few years. But now, like many others, he’s outside Russia, with no idea of when he can return there. ---------- LINKS: INSIDE RUSSIA is a source of current news on Russia - Konstantin carefully selects 9 n...
Apr 18, 2024•49 min•Season 3Ep. 390
Edition No41 | 16-04-2024 ~~~~~ SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ~~~~~ KYIV INDEPENDENT https://kyivindependent.com/we-in-ukraine-know-very-well-the-horror-zelensky-condemns-iranian-missile-and-drone-attack-on-israel/ https://kyivindependent.com/syrskyi-situation-on-eastern-front-has-significantly-deteriorated-in-recent-days/ https://kyivindependent.com/unequipped-and-outgunned-ukrainian-military-often-cant-evacuate-its-wound...
Apr 18, 2024•50 min
Gregory Terry has worked in Ukraine for 26 years, facilitating the delivery of aid to frontline areas of the country. Like me, he uses YouTube as a tool to advocate for Ukraine and demonstrate the amazing work of his team on the ground. Greg has always been fascinated by the cultures, history, and languages of the region, growing up in an era which saw the opening up of the Soviet Union. I’ll let him tell the story of his family, and how he came to be connected to Russia and Ukraine. Greg now ru...
Apr 14, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Season 3Ep. 389
