Ukraine strikes the only bridge linking the annexed Crimean peninsula to Russia, scoring a key strategic and symbolic victory after a month of victories on the battlefields in the east and the south.
And Russia responds with a barrage of rocket, drone, and artillery attacks against scores of Ukrainian cities across the country, targeting civilians and drawing widespread international condemnation as well as calls for the West to provide Kyiv with advanced air defense systems.
And just like that, the war in Ukraine has escalated. On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore unpacks the latest developments in Russia’s war against Ukraine with former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Kramer, Managing Director for Global Policy at the George W. Bush Institute in Dallas, and former U.S. State Department official Max Bergmann, director of the Europe and Russia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Enjoy…
SHOW NOTES
The opening audio clip is from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s speech on October 12. The text and video of the speech can be accessed here. The translation of the clip is as follows:
“The more audacious and cruel Russian terror becomes, the more obvious it is to the world that helping Ukraine to protect the sky is one of the most important humanitarian tasks for Europe of our time. I believe that we will cope with this task. And I am grateful to those of our partners who have already made a decision to strengthen such support for our state – support for effective defense in the air.”
The op-ed from The New York Times by Ukrainian journalist Margo Gontar, “Putin Has Sent Us a Message, but Not the One He Meant To,” can be accessed here.
The new U.S. National Security Strategy that was released this week and discussed in the second half of the podcast can be accessed here.