While recent diplomatic efforts to bring Ukraine and Russia to a peace deal and the unexpected Easter truce announced by Putin are bearing no fruit, the situation on the battlefield remains the most influential factor in the future trajectory of the war—including diplomatic attempts to bring the conflict to a halt. Donald Trump seems to believe that Ukraine will inevitably lose the war if a peace deal that can satisfy the Kremlin isn’t achieved. But is that really the case? What shape are Ukrainian and Russian forces in terms of manpower, equipment, and tactics? And what are the potential scenarios for the 2025 campaign?
Podcast host Alex Gabuev is joined by Alexandra Prokopenko, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center and one of the leading experts on the Russian economy, to assess the current state of Putin’s wartime economy and discuss its future prospects.
Podcast host Alex Gabuev is joined by two representatives of the independent Russian media outlet Mediazona—English-language editor Mika Golubovsky and data team technical lead David Frenkel—to discuss their work counting Russia’s losses in spite of Moscow’s attempts to obscure that data.
Podcast host Alex Gabuev is joined by Arkady Ostrovsky, Russia and Eastern Europe editor for The Economist, to discuss the role of Victory Day in Russia and how it has evolved under Putin.
Podcast host Alex Gabuev is joined by Tatiana Mikhailova, an economist and visiting assistant professor at Penn State University, to make sense of the trade war initiated by Washington.