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  • Ep 16 – "If You're Not in Ukraine, You're Not in Defense": Brave1 CEO Andrii Hrytseniuk
    2026/09/07

    Ukraine's answer to the question every war asks — not who invents a weapon, but who fields it fast enough to win — has a name, and a CEO.

    Andrii Hrytseniuk runs Brave1, the platform the Ukrainian government built in 2023 to connect industry, combat units, ministries and universities into a single innovation engine. He is not a career soldier. He was a chief information officer at Ukraine's largest banks, and that is precisely the point: when the full-scale invasion came, scientists, teachers and IT project managers turned civilian skills into weapons development. Short of tanks, they fielded heavy-lift bombers and FPV drones. With no navy, they invented naval drones. That improvisation became an institution.

    Sam Cook and Rob Lee sit down with him in Kyiv for 40 minutes on how the machine actually works: problem statements instead of requirement documents, agile iterations instead of ten-year programmes of record, and six laws plus nearly fifty Cabinet decrees rewritten so a civilian company can go from an idea to a codified weapon in weeks.

    Produced by the Borderlands Foundation.

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    🎓 Why War Matters — Sam's San Francisco talk. Part I is free:

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    Guests:

    Andrii Hrytseniuk / Brave1: https://brave1.gov.ua

    Rob Lee: https://x.com/RALee85


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    0:00 - Who fields technology, not who invents it

    4:46 - Welcome: the engine of Ukrainian innovation

    5:10 - What Brave1 is, and the Army of Drones project it grew out of

    7:40 - Out-innovating an enemy with more of everything

    9:15 - The banker, the scientists and the teachers who built weapons

    10:38 - What other militaries should learn from civilian thinking

    11:02 - ePoints: a banker's bonus scheme, applied to the army

    11:46 - Design thinking and agile instead of technical requirements

    12:55 - Why US requirement documents produce unchangeable technology

    13:24 - Breaking open a closed defense market: six laws, fifty decrees

    14:11 - Building the new process in parallel rather than fixing the old one

    15:08 - How a frontline need becomes a product

    16:14 - The feedback loop Brave1 sits in the middle of

    17:13 - Early funding, like an angel investor

    18:51 - 600 products tested and codified to NATO standards

    19:54 - 400 venture funds asking which companies to back

    20:13 - Reviewing the categories every nine months

    21:43 - Foreign companies: Test in Ukraine

    22:46 - Brave International, and Brave NATO, Germany, Norway, France

    23:27 - Brave Prime, and why the global primes came

    24:07 - "If you're not in Ukraine, you're not in defense"

    25:19 - Why 95% Ukrainian-made drones is a problem, not a win

    26:00 - Priorities: domain by domain

    26:47 - Deep and middle strike: the gray zone from 10km to 70km

    27:54 - Counter-UAS, and interceptors cheaper than a Shahed

    28:51 - Data links, mesh networks, and the range problem

    29:21 - AI: drone versus drone

    29:52 - From manually operated, to human-in-the-loop, to human-on-the-loop

    30:55 - "Next year the majority of hits will be fully automatic"

    31:59 - Russia's autonomous strikes

    33:30 - Countermeasures, and working with allies on autonomy

    34:08 - Turrets

    35:42 - UGVs: kamikaze, logistics, evacuation, hybrid buggies

    36:59 - 50,000 ground robots contracted this year

    38:02 - 100,000 UGV missions in seven months

    39:14 - Four lessons for Western militaries

    40:00 - One: assume you are not defended enough

    40:47 - Two: the economics of war, and cheap weapons at scale

    41:31 - Three: speed of innovation, and the three-to-six-month window

    41:57 - Four: flexibility, scalability and supply-chain dependencies

    42:38 - A culture of readiness for threats you cannot predict

    43:16 - "Real strength, or the illusion of defense?"

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    49 分
  • Ep 15 – What Happens If Russia Mobilizes: Rob Lee & Francis Farrell on the Upcoming Winter
    2026/08/19

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    Francis Farrell is one of the very few English-language journalists who still goes right up to the front line in Ukraine. He is Australian, he arrived a week before the full-scale invasion, and he has spent four years reporting the war from the places most outlets can no longer insure their people to enter.Sam Cook and Rob Lee sit down with him in Kyiv on 14 August 2026 — as the Russian advance closes on the Donbas fortress belt of Kramatorsk, Sloviansk and Druzhkivka.Francis describes Dobropillia as the most destroyed city he has seen: twelve glide bombs in three hours, not one civilian on the street, and a basement he slept in that was gone a week later. Rob maps the front around it — why the maps lag reality, and why October and November worry him most.Then the harder question. Russia's assault philosophy runs on a constant supply of expendable infantry. If Putin mobilizes again, what changes — and what does Ukraine do about the manpower asymmetry no drone fleet has solved?Francis closes on something he has been circling for years: there are two Ukrainian militaries now — the elite drone units fighting the war of the future, and the worn-down legacy brigades filled with unmotivated mobilized men. Understanding the gap between them, he argues, is the only honest way to read this war.Timestamps0:00 - Francis Farrell8:50 - The journalist who still goes to the front12:06 - Researching Russia is now nearly impossible14:29 - Kremlinology15:52 - Rosgvardia on the Belarus border17:41 - The Kyiv Independent19:42 - The counteroffensive that made his career21:03 - What the Kyiv Independent is actually for22:07 - The dearth of frontline reporting in English23:31 - The communication gap that keeps widening25:00 - Dobropillia: the most destroyed city he has seen26:09 - Twelve glide bombs in three hours27:20 - The basement that was gone a week later27:45 - Sloviansk and Kramatorsk29:46 - Why the last month has been faster31:18 - Dobropillia and the FPVs that emptied it33:21 - A logistical nightmare: roads, rails, nowhere to sleep35:21 - When it stops making sense to go39:21 - Putin's minimum, and how long it takes to take a city41:28 - Sloviansk 2014, Girkin, and what these cities mean42:52 - Why cities matter militarily — basements and antennas44:13 - The pincer, and the 22 July assault in the Azov Corps sector46:25 - A year ago: the Dobropillia infiltration, and who holds the flanks now48:49 - Kostiantynivka: how a fortress city gets overrun50:35 - Logistics by moped, UGV and trolley52:19 - Can UGVs replace infantry?54:15 - Keeping human beings underground56:54 - The 45-day UGV position that was really drones58:28 - Manpower, being chased by an FPV, and why a breached city is a liability1:02:23 - Five kilometres underground1:05:02 - Weather, Pokrovsk, and the October-November danger window1:08:46 - Back to the strategic picture1:13:45 - Russia's war economy and the recruitment quota1:14:53 - Mobilization: the X factor1:16:29 - North Koreans, and what 10,000 more would mean1:19:54 - Crossing the Rubicon1:21:53 - Sustainability as strategy1:24:03 - Syrskyi, Drapatyi, and valuing manpower1:26:52 - How the US and Europe have actually responded1:28:35 - The commander who told Putin he had taken Kupiansk1:29:55 - Lucky that Russia's system is still broken1:33:23 - Watching the Oval Office meeting from the front1:35:14 - Social media war vs the real war1:37:47 - The human factor that gets lost1:39:35 - Why frontline soldiers sound more pessimistic1:42:41 - Two Ukrainian militaries

    Produced by the Borderlands Foundation.Support our work: https://theborderlandsfoundation.orgSubscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@UkraineMilitaryHistoryGuests:Francis Farrell: https://x.com/francisjfarrellRob Lee: https://x.com/RALee85

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    1 時間 50 分
  • Ep 14 – Russia Is Learning Faster Than You Think: The Most Sophisticated Assault of the War
    2026/08/12

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    In early August 2026, Ukraine got a new commander-in-chief. General Oleksandr Syrskyi was relieved, and Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi — forty-three years old — took over an army in the fifth year of a full-scale war. It followed the public fight over the firing of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov that we covered in episodes 10 and 11.

    Sam Cook sits down in Kyiv with Rob Lee, one of the most widely read analysts of this war, and Dima Putiata, who served four years in the Ukrainian Armed Forces and left as a sergeant in the Unmanned Systems Forces. The question: have we reached a turning point?

    The answer is more careful than the headlines. Russia is advancing slower than a year ago — but it still holds the initiative.

    Timestamps

    0:00 - What this episode is and why it matters

    7:18 - Have we reached a turning point? Why Russia is advancing slower

    10:19 - Kramatorsk and Sloviansk: the hardest direction

    12:51 - Why both sides fight so hard for the Donetsk cities

    14:21 - What people get wrong about "turning point"

    16:01 - Shahed-4, Shahed-5, the pulse-jet engine, and Banderol

    19:39 - Ukraine's gap in pulse-jet deep-strike drones

    20:39 - The counteroffensive that never came, and the airborne counterattacks nobody reported

    22:53 - "Tanks are not dead" - combined arms maneuver

    24:18 - What you never see on Twitter or Telegram, and why the best units stay quiet

    27:00 - The biggest lie starts at division level, and Russia's 300 vehicles

    29:04 - Artillery is not dead either: weather, counter-battery radar, acoustic sensors

    33:29 - Preparing the battlefield for armor

    35:01 - The casualty debate: drones vs artillery

    37:32 - Ukrainian artillery brigades that fly their own drones

    40:16 - North Koreans in Kursk: from company assaults to squads

    42:13 - Reestablishing maneuver: the First World War parallel and the Azov Corps assault

    44:01 - Lancet, Zala, Orion, and Russia's mesh network

    48:42 - Arena-M: twenty FPVs to stop one tank, mine rollers and sixteen mines

    51:49 - Rubicon's 150-page doctrine - and Ukraine's silence

    53:12 - Eighty percent of armor losses come from UAVs

    54:26 - The most sophisticated Russian assault of the war

    56:39 - Political demands, the lying problem, and the post-war Russian military

    1:00:02 - Russia's daily target list, and why their micro-tactical execution still fails

    1:04:44 - Starlink: the game changer of this war

    1:06:22 - Middle strike: heavy and light

    1:08:39 - Lancet-Zala, interceptors, and Ukraine's middle strike campaign today

    1:12:34 - RuzSat: Russia builds its own Starlink, and echelons of electronic warfare

    1:18:07 - "Starlink is a bit of a crutch", and Kursk: crossing the border and losing it

    1:21:15 - Crimea, Operation Spiderweb, and what adversaries learn

    1:25:24 - Ground-launched ballistic missiles, KN-23 and KN-24

    1:27:50 - Zelenskyy's ask to Trump and Musk

    1:29:50 - The PAC-3 shortage, and why missile defense stays hard

    1:33:03 - Deep strike: refineries, Wildberries, Flamingo - and is it working?

    1:37:08 - The economic war: the Black Sea, the port of Odesa, and attrition

    1:40:54 - The firing of Fedorov, a new commander-in-chief, and Bilecki's three reasons

    1:44:05 - Syrskyi built a system that worked for him

    1:46:32 - Unity of command and the Unmanned Systems Forces

    1:49:11 - What is Ukraine's actual strategy, and the manpower problem

    1:53:04 - What Drapatyi will change first

    1:57:29 - Why mobilization got harder: Bakhmut, and orders with no purpose

    2:00:45 - AWOL, desertion, and criminal liability for withdrawing

    2:05:38 - How AWOL should actually be punished

    2:07:17 - France 1940: leadership, training, then technology

    2:10:50 - Better than a year ago, but not a turning point yet

    Produced by the Borderlands Foundation.Support our work: https://theborderlandsfoundation.org

    All episodes: https://ukrainemilitaryhistory.org/

    Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@UkraineMilitaryHistory

    Guests:Rob Lee: https://x.com/RALee85Dima Putiata: https://x.com/kriegsforscherD

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    2 時間 19 分
  • Ep13 – Inside GUR's International Legion: An Elite Commander on Rat Tactics, the 80% Drone War, and the Future of Special Operations
    2026/08/04

    His face is blurred and his voice is altered — because he is still fighting. In this episode, Rob Lee sits down with the commander of a separate special forces company in the International Legion of GUR (Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Directorate): a veteran of the SBU's elite Alpha unit who fought through the Battle of Kyiv, the Kherson counteroffensive, and Bakhmut before taking command in the Legion.

    From the Zaporizhzhia front, he describes a war transformed. Russian "rat tactics" — two- and three-man teams infiltrating between positions with no evacuation and one order: advance or die. A kill zone where at least 80% of all casualties, on both sides, come from drones. Up to 12 FPVs expended on a single soldier. Urban fights where your unit holds one house and the enemy holds the next one for days. And a new pattern of FPV terror attacks on civilian cars and buses in Zaporizhzhia.

    He also explains what the drone war has retired — snipers down to 10% effectiveness, mortars now "like snipers," an FPV team worth more than an anti-tank system — and what NATO special operations forces must learn from it: units that are at most 25–30% infantry, built around technology, adaptability, and commanders who put their soldiers' lives first.

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    0:00 - From SBU Alpha to GUR's International Legion

    6:25 - The Unit's Drone Arsenal: FPVs, Mavics, Vampires, Ground Drones

    8:26 - The Zaporizhzhia Front and "Rat Tactics": Do or Die, No Evacuation

    10:37 - FPV Terror Against Civilians — Up to 12 FPVs Per Soldier

    12:56 - Russian Spetsnaz and 2–3-Man Infiltration Instead of Assaults

    15:17 - 80% of All Casualties Are From Drones; Glide Bombs as Terror

    17:06 - Urban Combat: The Enemy in the Next House

    19:08 - Walking 10–30 km to the Zero Line; Anti-Thermal Suits

    21:33 - Who Joins the Legion (Norway to Nigeria): "You Must Become Better"

    25:04 - The Alpha Years: Combat Medic in Donbas

    28:16 - The Battle of Kyiv: Hunting Russian Agents Building to Building

    30:16 - The Kherson Offensive: Village by Village

    33:26 - Bakhmut: Mortars, Mavics, and a First Wound

    35:24 - Weapons the Kill Zone Retired — and the Future: Max 30% Infantry

    37:45 - How to Join or Support the Legion

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    53 分
  • Ep #12 – Two Marines. One War. Both Captured. Shaun Pinner about Mariupol & Captivity
    2026/07/31

    In this special episode, Ievgen Malik sits down with Shaun Pinner — British soldier, Ukrainian Marine, Mariupol defender, and fellow survivor of Russian captivity. The two served in the same battalion of the 36th Marines but in different units, fought through the siege of Mariupol from February to April 2022, and both ended up in Russian captivity — where they got to know each other.

    This is not a standard interview. It's two veterans who shared the worst experience of their lives sitting together for the first time since their release, comparing stories, filling in blanks, and discovering what the other went through. Shaun talks about leaving a successful business in London at 45 to join the Ukrainian military, falling in love with Mariupol, training Ukrainian soldiers to move away from Soviet doctrine, and watching the full-scale invasion destroy the city he called home. Ievgen tells his side — the fog that could have been their escape, the breakout that went wrong, and why the second year of captivity was worse than Mariupol itself.

    Together, they describe the Russian way of war from the receiving end: Grad rockets fired at two soldiers, tanks shooting on the hour like a clock, 80 rockets for a two-man position. They talk about what captivity was really like — the electric shocks, the stabbings, the guards who called themselves Spetsnaz but couldn't name their own weapons, and the forced propaganda videos where the torturer stood behind the camera. And they explain why Shaun now considers it his mission to warn Europe about what's coming.


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    Timestampts:

    0:00 - Ievgen and Shaun's Story — Mariupol and Captivity

    4:57 - A True Ally of Ukraine

    6:48 - Why Shaun Came to Ukraine: Unhappy in Business, Happiest in the Military

    9:40 - Shaun Joins Azov as Sniper Instructor, Then Transfers to Marines

    12:14 - Ievgen's First Memory of the English Guys at the Battalion Gate

    14:25 - Parachute Training at 45: "You Couldn't Stop Me"

    17:00 - Nine Jumps, One Night Jump — the Only British Foreigner to Complete It

    19:13 - "I'm Not a Foreign Fighter — I'm a Ukrainian Marine"

    21:30 - The Transition from Soviet Doctrine to Decentralized Command

    24:03 - By 2022: Sergeants Making Decisions

    26:27 - "We Were Now Ukrainian": British Borscht and the Platoon Family

    28:00 - War Has Changed: Drones Are the Sniper, the Mortars, the Artillery

    30:01 - The Drone Story: Two Marines, One Drone, 80 Grad Rockets

    32:46 - "The First Time in My Military Career, I'm Now the Taliban"

    35:01 - Mariupol: "Very Emotional, Very Dangerous — We Lost So Many People"

    37:56 - "In War Films, a Tank Is the Worst. For Us, a Tank Was the Minimum"

    40:01 - The Encirclement: 200 Kilometers Deep, No Way Out

    41:58 - Preparing for Escape: Snapping Credit Cards, Clearing Intelligence

    44:14 - Shaun's Capture: Planned to Surrender to a Russian Officer — Got DPR Instead

    47:00 - Ievgen's Negotiated Surrender

    48:44 - Beatings Begin: Bag Over Head, Stabbed in the Leg

    51:05 - Electric Shocks and Psychological Torture: "They're So Good at It"

    53:23 - "You're James Bond, You're SAS" — "No, I'm Senior Sailor"

    56:08 - The Last Question: What Would Happen If Russia Invaded Britain?

    59:34 - "It's My Job to Tell People What Actually Happened in Mariupol"

    1:01:32 - "This War Needs to Be Finished Here — It's Imperialism"

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    1 時間 5 分
  • Ep 11 – E-Points, Busification, and the Generals Nobody Can Fire: Inside the Army's Systemic Crisis
    2026/07/21

    In Episode 10 the panel unpacked the politics of Mykhailo Fedorov's dismissal as Ukraine's defence minister — the protests, the strategy clash with Syrskyi, and why soldiers took it personally. In Episode 11, they go deeper: Fedorov's explosive farewell press conference, where he published an 11-point list of systemic problems inside Ukraine's armed forces — and invited the country to judge.Rob Lee takes the panel through the list point by point. Ryan O'Leary — American volunteer, still serving — and Dima Putiata — Ukrainian veteran sergeant — push back, agree, and add stories from their own service that the official accounts never tell. The result is the most granular public discussion of what is actually broken inside the Ukrainian military in the fourth year of war: the E-points system that rewards killing infantry over destroying logistics, the half-built corps reform, brigades that cannot count their own battalions, a mobilization apparatus that has lost public trust, the foreigners' revolving door, and a constitutional structure that means the minister of defence cannot fire a single general.They close with their verdicts — and a shared warning: the window for a Ukrainian offensive operation is open now, but it may close by early 2027.Built with Storyfunnels.aiTimestamps:0:00 - Fedorov's Problem List1:57 - Fedorov's 11 Points from His Farewell Speech2:35 - Problem #1: The Army Fights at the Tactical Level4:06 - The SSO Told Me to File Reports in PDF6:45 - Battalion Targeted Drone Operators — and Got Punished7:32 - The E-Points System9:00 - Brave One Marketplace11:23 - Destroyed Over 100 Starlinks13:03 - Fedorov's Lack of Military Background14:37 - Middle-Strike Coordination20:20 - Problem #2: The Corps System Is Not Yet Fully Formed25:00 - Third Corps Under Biletsky27:50 - Problem #3: Brigades and Corps Have Been Fragmented — Piecemeal Deployments33:58 - Problem #4: No One Is Held Accountable for Anything34:13 - No Ownership & The US Military Model36:24 - 30 Cadets Die in Training37:23 - Mobilization & Busification39:22 - Ukraine's Biggest Mistake42:42 - Civilians Don't Feel Safe49:39 - Foreigners Are the Only Ones Still Dumb Enough54:33 - The Bureaucratic Nightmare 56:35 - Dedicated Foreign Service Branch59:00 - 6-Month Contract Costs Ukraine More Than It Gets Back1:01:10 - Manpower Is the Biggest Issue1:02:01 - Fedorov Identified 200,000 AWOL1:03:59 - The MOD Cannot Fire Generals1:06:00 - Fedorov Was Blamed for Things Not in His Remit1:07:43 - Swap Out the Commander-in-Chief1:09:04 - Post-War1:10:17 - Unfortunate Fedorov Is Replaced1:13:00 - Fedorov Was the Best Minister of Defence1:15:54 - The Golden Opportunity1:20:02 - How Long Can Each Side Sustain This?1:25:38 - We've Got the Russians by the Balls1:27:53 - Sign My Damn Citizenship, ZelenskyProduced by the Borderlands Foundation.🎧 **Listen & subscribe:**All episodes: https://ukrainemilitaryhistory.org/Apple: https://ukrainemilitaryhistory.s.gy/d6Vm9DSpotify: https://ukrainemilitaryhistory.s.gy/bEE3Y9Amazon: https://ukrainemilitaryhistory.s.gy/hun4CH▶ Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@UkraineMilitaryHistory

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    1 時間 30 分
  • Ep 10 – Zelensky Fires His Defense Minister: Soldiers Speak Out — Rob Lee, Ryan O'Leary & Dima Putiata on the Week That Shook Kyiv (Part 1)
    2026/07/20

    On July 15, 2026, President Zelensky dismissed his entire cabinet — and with it, defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov, six months into the job and, to many soldiers and civilians, the most effective minister Ukraine's military had ever had. Within a day there were protests in Kyiv. Two days later, we turned on the cameras.

    In this emergency panel — filmed in Kyiv on July 17 — Rob Lee sits down with two men who serve: Dima Putiata, veteran sergeant of Ukraine's unmanned systems forces, and Ryan O'Leary, an American who has fought for Ukraine since 2022 and joins the podcast for the first time — and does not hold back.

    In Part 1, they unpack the political thinking behind the dismissal: what Fedorov actually changed in six months, why the streets reacted, who the replacement is, and the deeper clash over how this war should be fought — Fedorov's strategy of making the war unsustainable for Russia versus Syrskyi's push to attack while the window is open.

    Part 2 goes deeper: Fedorov's farewell list of the army's systemic problems — E-points, the half-built corps reform, busification, and the foreigners' revolving door — debated point by point.

    Subscribe so you don't miss it.

    Timestamps:

    0:00 - Introduction (Sam Cook): The Week That Shook Kyiv

    2:11 - The Panel Convene

    3:30 - Dima: Why People Defend Fedorov — and Why Wartime Reform Is Brutal

    7:29 - How the Replacement Unfolded: Klymenko First, Then the SBU Man

    8:22 - Ryan: "Ukraine Shoots Itself in the Foot"

    11:58 - Year Four, and Foreigners Still Can't Transfer

    12:43 - Why Six-Month Ministers Can't Work — and Why Fedorov Was Different

    15:32 - Replacing People Without Giving Them a Chance

    18:10 - Where the Frontline Gains Actually Came From

    19:38 - What Fedorov Really Changed: He Opened the MOD to the Public

    21:47 - Trust in Institutions — "We're Below Zero Now"

    23:38 - The Strategy Vacuum Since 2023

    25:01 - "I Asked How We Win — and Got Silence"

    27:37 - Kursk: A Brilliant Operation in Search of a Strategy

    28:52 - Fedorov's Theory of Victory: Make the War Unsustainable for Russia

    31:31 - The New Minister: Brilliant Operator, Zero Public Affairs 33:10 - What Background Does a Defense Minister Actually Need?

    35:26 - Dima vs the 50,000-a-Month Metric: Kill More, or Lose Fewer?

    38:24 - Strike at 100 Kilometers, Not at the Zero Line

    40:12 - Attrition or Maneuver: Where Is Russia's Breaking Point?

    41:17 - Crimea Isolated: No Fuel, No Power, No Fleet — but Does It End the War?

    44:41 - Making Occupation Unlivable: The Governance-Collapse Theory

    48:59 - After the Strikes, What? Fedorov vs Syrskyi on Going on the Attack

    49:49 - The Kursk Bill: A Thousand Vehicles and Hollowed-Out Brigades

    51:21 - Two Theories of Victory: Raise the Costs, or Break the Line

    52:12 - The Counterattack Reflex — and the Lying It Created

    53:20 - The Assault Regiments: The Skala Controversy

    55:38 - Code 9.2 and the Kupiansk Model: 100 Infantry, Local Drone Superiority

    56:36 - Ryan Sides With Syrskyi: The Window for Maneuver Is Open

    58:56 - Behind the Drone Line, You Can Do Whatever You Want

    59:09 - Area Denial: "Mine Every Tree Line, 15 to 20 Kilometers Deep"

    1:00:56 - Bakhmut, Lost Villages, and the Politics of Holding Ground

    1:03:23 - Drone Assaults: What Chosen Company Proved in 2023

    1:05:46 - The Missed Breach at Huliaipole

    1:11:11 - Skala's Problem: Public Affairs

    1:15:12 - Ten-Thousand-Man Regiments: Who's Actually In Them?

    1:18:01 - Mobilization, Prisoners, and Who Ends Up in Assault Units

    1:21:03 - The 155th Brigade Scandal: "Just Dissolve It"

    Produced by the Borderlands Foundation.

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    2 時間 53 分
  • Ep9 – "You Were Allowed to Breathe. That's All.": Ievgen Malik on Mordovia Prison and the Road Home (Part 2)
    2026/07/20

    On February 7th, 2023, Ievgen Malik was told he was going home. He smiled. A prison officer looked at him and said: *"What are you smiling about? You're going to be beaten hundreds of times before you get home."* That was the truth. He was being transferred to Prison No. 10 in Mordovia — the hardest facility in his captivity — where he would spend the better part of a year.
    In this concluding episode with Rob Lee, Ievgen Malik details life inside Mordovia: the arrival ritual (stripped naked in Russian winter, beaten by twenty guards with batons and electric shocks for forty minutes); the daily regime (stand from 6am to 10pm, no moving, no speaking, no smiling, no leaning — allowed only to breathe); his 30th birthday (made to sing a Russian song while a guard shocked his fingers for the entire duration); the German shepherd bite that went untreated for weeks; and the moment on September 13th, 2024 — Friday the 13th — when his name was finally called.
    Of the 650 Ukrainian prisoners in Mordovia Prison No. 10, fewer than 20 have been released. More than 600 remain there today.
    *Continues from Episode 8.*


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    ▶ Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@UkraineMilitaryHistory 📩 Two Marines (Rob & Dmytro): https://ukrainemilitaryhistory.s.gy/wt9OCKTimestamps:00:00 What is this episode about05:42 The Transfer: "We Truly Believed This Was the End"08:07 "You're Going to Be Beaten Hundreds of Times Before You Get Home"13:26 Sign It If You Did It — a Confession Means a Death Sentence18:47 The Arrival — Naked, On Knees, in the Russian Winter21:49 The Daily Regime: Stand From 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.22:25 "You Are Allowed to Breathe. That's It."31:37 Old News: The Day They Said They'd Captured Lviv32:36 The Guards: Following Orders vs. Enjoying It33:27 Hyenas From Hell — the Laugh That Still Stays With Him42:56 The Dogs55:23 The Ombudsman's Three Days — the Red Cross Never Came56:46 Friday the 13th: the Day His Name Was Called1:00:35 "God, Make This Plane Break Down" — the Flight He Didn't Believe1:02:34 The Man Whose Mother Didn't Recognize Him1:07:02 A Piece of Chocolate1:08:26 A Birthday in Captivity1:10:59 The Exchange: Across the Belarusian Border1:16:11 Out of 650, Only 20 Have Come Home1:20:22 "Sometimes I Sit in a Café and Can't Believe I'm Free"1:22:59 This Isn't Ukraine vs. Russia. It's Russia vs. Europe.1:28:33 Thanks to the supporters

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