Silicon Curtain

Liza Clinical Wizard is her handle on Twitter. She is a clinical research specialist, turned war journalist. A media Influencer, blogger, and proud Ukrainian. Liza is a volunteer helping UA Defenders on the front, and a member of the Vatnik bashing digital collective, NAFO. ---------- LINKS: https://twitter.com/lizaclinwizard https://twitter.com/ukrconnect https://twitter.com/_vpdfo_ ---------- SU...

Edition No26 | 02-12-2023 As the clamour for peace at any price escalates, we need to ask in whose interests would this be? Who is pushing for peace, and is the Kremlin a credible negotiator for a potential peace deal? ~~~~~ SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ~~~~~ The Economist https://www.economist.com/europe/2023/11/27/ukraine...

Vatnik soup is a Twitter thread series where Pekka Kallioniemi introduces pro-Russian actors and propagandists from around the world. This includes so-called “independent journalists”, politicians, military personnel and of course just regular grifters looking to make money. The series has introductions and deeper insights on how online propaganda and disinformation works and is spread. There are...

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 vide...

In 2020, mass anti-government protests erupted across Belarus. The brutal crackdown that followed shocked the international community: the authorities arrested tens of thousands of citizens, shut down independent media and NGOs, and fomented a migrant crisis on the European Union's border. But where many thought Belarus's dictator, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, would fall, he instead turned to Mo...

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. ----...

Volunteering on a massive scale proved what is possible to achieve. Ukrainian volunteers play at integral role in resisting agains the Russian aggression and saving lives. ---------- Richard Woodruff is a British Cossack volunteering in Ukraine since June 2022. He is involved in Front Line Kit, both in the areas of humanitarian and military aid. Richard was awarded for his contribution to AFU by G...

The history of Russia after 1917 is traditionally written as the rise of the Communist Party, and its entrenchment in power throughout the 20th century. But is this missing a key piece of the equation? Yuri Felshtinsky and Vladimir Popov have written a stunning book, that benefits from the trove of new historical sources available from inside the Russian secret services. It retells the familiar st...

Hans Petter Midttun is a former Norwegian military attaché to Ukraine and is one of the most astute analysts of Russia’s war against Ukraine. He was educated at the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy, the Norwegian National Defence Command as well as tactical education from the Federal Defence Forces of Germany. ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.pat...

INTRO: The history of Russia after 1917 is traditionally written as the rise of the Communist Party, and its entrenchment in power throughout the 20th century. But is this missing a key piece of the equation? Yuri Felshtinsky and Vladimir Popov have written a stunning book, that benefits from the trove of new historical sources available from inside the Russian secret services. It retells the fami...

Edition No25 | 23-11-2023 As winter comes hard upon Ukraine, Russia is again weaponising energy as an instrument of war. Targeting civilian electricity and heating infrastructure is still a war crime, but that does not stop Russia. At the same time, evidence is emerging that Russia planned already in 2021 to use theft of grain as an instrument of war - weaponising starvation to overcome Ukrainian...

GUEST: John Sweeney - investigative journalist and writer. Orange hat advocate. ---------- SPEAKER: John Sweeney is a British investigative journalist and writer. He worked for The Observer newspaper, and the BBC's Panorama and Newsnight series. Sweeney ceased working for the BBC in October 2019, and is now reporting on the war in Ukraine, as well as creating a Daily war diary. Which I strongl...

Shaun Pinner is a former British soldier and Ukrainian Marine. He has written an extraordinary first-hand account of the war in Ukraine, his capture, imprisonment, and torture by the Russian invaders. Shaun was a retired and decorated British soldier, living peacefully in Mariupol with his Ukrainian family. But the full-scale war began, and after fighting alongside Ukrainian army colleagues, he fo...

Bohdana Neborak is Editor in Chief at The Ukrainians. She is host of an award-winning video project about decolonization («Наразі без назви»). Bohdana is ex-Head of the Translation Department at the Ukrainian Book Institute, and had a seven-year career in journalism, writing about culture and the creative industries. ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https...

Ukraine has been transformed into a society with the most active volunteer groups in the world - and has a dynamic civil society and donation culture. In addition, Ukraine’s diaspora of professionals and refugees are playing an extraordinary role in support Ukraine, both materially, but also by raising awareness of it’s cause in their host countries and within the international community. Today I...

Edition No24 | 18-11-2023 In order to avoid criticism of its handling of the war, the Kremlin tries to prevent conscripts from ever returning to Russia. Only martyrs required - No Russians get out of this war alive. ~~~~~ SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ~~~~~ WARNING - Graphic and distressing content https://twitter.com/JayinK...

INTRO: There are many scenarios of what a post-Putin Russia would look like, especially following a substantial defeat in Ukraine. The obvious one, is to assume that a humiliated Russia would blame the West for its defeat and seek revenge, forcing the collective West to rearm and prepare for the next act of aggression by the Russian imperium. But reality has a way of throwing surprises, and we can...

GUEST: Henry J. Hendrix - Retired US Navy captain, defence analyst, historian and curator. ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- SPEAKER: Henry J. Hendrix is a retired United States Navy captain. He has served as an American defence analyst, an official historian and curator of the Navy and an author. His writt...

Dr Benjamin Tallis is a research fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations. He runs the project “Action Group Zeitenwende” on the transformation of Germany’s security and foreign policy, and where he hosts the podcast "Berlin Inside Out". He previously worked for the EU on security missions in Ukraine and the Balkans and was policy officer at the European Centre of Excellence for...

Ukraine’s counteroffensive has reached a transition point – not a point of failure, as it has been labelled by some commentators and media sources. We are 20 months into a war that Gen. Mark Milley said would last three days. Russian planners estimated 10 days. A Ukrainian military once considered inferior to Russia’s has militarily defeating Russians on every battlefield in Ukraine. They have kil...

“As the world watches two Russian thugs fight it out, it’s important to remember that both of them have been, and still are, implicated in Russia’s ongoing genocide in Ukraine.” This is taken from an article written by Alexander Motyl in The Hill, dated 28th June 2023. ------- Alexander Motyl is an American historian, political scientist, poet, writer, translator, and artist. He lives in New York...

Edition No23 | 11-11-2023 Russia returns to terror threats, as it flaunts its Nuclear capabilities to intimidate the Allies supporting Ukraine militarily. ~~~~~ SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ~~~~~ NEWS ITEMS: https://metro.co.uk/2023/11/08/russian-singer-shaman-simulates-a-nuclear-attack-during-concert-19781777/ https://www....

Gustav Gressel is a senior policy fellow with the Wider Europe Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations’ Berlin office. His topics of focus include Russia, Eastern Europe, and defence policy, Russia, armed conflict missile defence and proliferation. Before joining ECFR, Gressel worked as a desk officer for international security policy and strategy in the Bureau for Security Policy o...

GUEST: Robin Horsfall, soldier, writer, campaigner and keynote speaker. ---------- The existence of the USSR over many decades unfortunately shows that tyranny can be tenacious, and the extreme barbarism it deploys to suppress freedoms can last a long time and exact a huge toll of human suffering. That is why our weak strategy towards a decisive Ukrainian victory and complacency in the face of a r...

This week Russia attacked Odesa with missiles and drones, seriously damaging the Odesa National Art Museum building, a designated UNESCO monument (which was 124 years old yesterday). Missiles also hit the city centre damaging several multi-story residential buildings. Eight people were injured by shrapnel wounds. Night after night, Russia hits vital infrastructure, residential building, transport...