Silicon Curtain

Russia is paying a huge price in terms of blood and resource for every  inch of Ukrainian territory it tries to seize. The capture of Soledar, a  small town of little strategic importance that is claimed to have taken  over the weekend underscores this – as it likely cost many thousands of  Russian lives. But a war of attrition and stalemate on the frontline is  the last t...

Putin continues to drive deeper Western support for Ukraine with his  brutality and indiscriminate aggression. Now France, Germany and the US  are sending tanks and Patriot batteries. This could signal a real step  up from the supply of defensive weaponry to offensive. Has the West  finally realised that to end the war requires a resounding Ukrainian  victory on the battle...

Russian information operations are designed to accentuate and exaggerate  the effects of war, but their strategies have been changing since the  attack on the Kerch Bridge. Whereas Russian disinformation sources  previously sought to spread confusion over their interference in  Ukraine, now they use messaging to play up their military attacks on  Ukrainian energy infrastru...

After Putin was foisted on Russians in 2000 as their new president, they  also chose to elect him. His direct and coarse language, threat and  intimation of violence attracted people, and continued to do so for 20  years. Russians’ fetish for strong leaders, and superficial social and  political stability has now backfired spectacularly. Once he had  ascended to power, we...

It’s my pleasure today to welcome back onto the channel Vlad Vexler,  Social Philosopher, and popular YouTuber. Our previous two video  conversations proved to be extremely popular, and so we are risking our  luck with a third. Please do check out Vlad’s channel on YouTube, as it  has a collection of the most thought-provoking and insightful videos on  the Russian mindset...

Today I’m speaking with Anna Danylchuk, who has been creating a war  diary since the early days of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by  Russia in 2022. She aims to tell the truth about Ukraine when there are  so many attempts to propagandise the war and the causes of the war. Anna  is passionate about the beauty and independence of her country, and  communicates this ver...

Rahim Rahimov is a Baku-based member of the Management Board the  Tbilisi-based Association of European Studies for the Caucasus.

Putin claims that a belligerent NATO forced his hand to invade Ukraine.  He undoubtedly also feared an independent, democratic, and affluent  Ukraine. But like a classical Greek drama, Putin has by his actions,  created the very conditions here fears. NATO more united than ever, with  new members Finland and Sweden. A resurgent West remembering its values  and rearming. An...

The war is not going well for Russia. His propagandists on state TV are  making ever more aggressive and genocidal demands against Ukraine –  doubling down on its right to exist; hardliners are making their voices  heard as never before, and Putin is striking out vindictively against  Ukraine. How did we get here, and what is the endgame for Putin’s regime  and his dreams...

Today I’m speaking with Paul Niland the Founder of Lifeline Ukraine,  which is the country's first, national, professional, 24/7 suicide  prevention and mental health support service. Initially, Lifeline  Ukraine was being set up to address one of the most serious social  questions in Ukraine, the heart-breaking suicide rate in Ukraine's  veterans’ community. But this need...

Russian’s assault on Ukraine in 2022 presents the most serious  geopolitical crisis since the Second World War, and the first time a  country has sought to expunge a sovereign nation from the map of the  world since the NAZI era. And yet at the heart of the war is a mystery.  Vladimir Putin apparently lurched from a calculating, subtle master of  opportunity to a reckless...

The Social, Political and Psychological impact of Russia's Mobilisation.  Conscription is capricious, and threatening - causing a huge wave of  flight from Russia, especially among men of military draft age. Russia  seems condemned to repeat the mistakes of history, rather than learning  from them, as evidenced by Putin’s mass mobilisation of Russian males  into the armed...

The next generation of cannon fodder - the Militarisation of Youth and  Manipulation of History.    Not only has Russia engaged in an aggressive war in 2022, but it’s also  been ramping up military actions abroad and militaristic education and  propaganda domestically, since the late 90s. In today’s interview I’m  exploring Militarisation of Youth and Manipulation of...

Putin has ordered a partial mobilisation in Russia, as a tacit admission  that Moscow's war in Ukraine is not going to plan after nearly seven  months of intense and bloody fighting. Officially 300,000 reservists  will be drafted to support its military campaign, and the chaotic  mobilisation process has incited panic and an exodus of fighting age men  from Russia – does a...

Putin is counting on a loss of cohesion among the Western allies, to  help him win the war in Ukraine. Countries that have been particularly  targeted to weaken their resolve include Hungary and Italy. The Italian  general election that has just concluded was a snap election held after  the fall of the Draghi government in July. The results of the general  election meant t...

It seems that Russia’s main strategy in its war is now attrition and  perseverance. Putin hopes that the commitment of the West to Ukraine  will decline as the horror drags on for months. Russian info ops have  also turned to amplifying terror messages, and underscoring the economic  and social costs for the west of its continuing support for Ukraine’s  military resistance...

Starting from scratch in January 2014 as a citizen media initiative,  with no starting capital, Euromaidan Press is now #4 in terms of  readership among English-language media about Ukraine, as well as being a  well-known action hub connecting pro-Ukrainian activists worldwide. Alya Shandra is Editor-in-chief at Euro Maidan Press. She has a  background in environmental science...

Information security - How Ukraine has pioneered Open Source  Intelligence to fight Hybrid Information Warfare. Disinformation and all  the dark arts of hybrid information warfare are a major threat to  victory against Russian aggression in Ukraine. Disinformation seeks to  create an image of Ukraine as an enemy and obtain a social mandate  within Russia to implement Putin...

Dr Yuri Felshtinsky is a prominent author, historian, and journalist,  and expert on Russia and the former Soviet Union. He has appeared in  hundreds of print, TV and radio interviews worldwide, and is widely  known as co-author of the book “Blowing Up Russia” with Alexander  Litvinenko, a former Lieutenant Colonel in the FSB who was poisoned with  radioactive polonium in...

Unbroken: How Independent Candidates are Resisting Autocracy during the  Moscow Municipal Elections. Moscow held its municipal elections last  weekend, and the event received an unusual amount of attention from the  world’s media. There seems to be an unprecedented level of public  criticism of Putin, but it’s coming from the local municipal level and  not from the parliam...

Russian propaganda is at its heart nihilistic. Its effects can be highly  corrosive, and it does not necessarily try to convince you of its point  of view. Rather it seeks to engender division, conflict and in some  circumstances apathy and inaction. Russia Today has been at the  forefront of the Russian propaganda effort for more than a decade. This  conversation seeks to...

The Putin regime has been widely exploiting the vulnerabilities of  global social media platforms, using bots and trolls to promote specific  stories and narratives. But Russian propaganda does not work how most  people think it does. The interventions of the trolls and agitators  often fail to directly promote pro-regime narratives in political  discussions but do succeed...

Russian propaganda is at its heart nihilistic. Its effects can be highly  corrosive, and it does not necessarily try to convince you of its point  of view. Rather it seeks to engender division, conflict and in some  circumstances apathy and inaction. Today I am discussing a wide variety  of themes with Social Philosopher and YouTube phenomenon, Vlad Vexler.  Themes such as...

Has Trump inflicted permanent damage on American democracy? Or in the  long run, will his efforts to pervert and destroy American institutions  make American democracy stronger? What is the role of social media in  amplifying extreme points of view and the voices of conspiracy  theorists? The last few years has placed unprecedented pressure on  America’s democratic institu...

Russia did not only attack Ukraine militarily from 2014 onwards, but  also with propaganda and Information warfare, which have been at the  forefront of Russia’s efforts to control, dominate and coerce the people  of Ukraine. They have also sought to undermine and destroy Ukrainian  political institutions, civil administrations, education establishments  and culture. But a...