Dmitri Alperovitch talks with Justin Bronk (Senior Research Fellow for Airpower and Technology at RUSI and Professor at Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy) and Dara Massicot (Russian military analyst at RAND) about the dire implications of the dwindling stocks of Ukrainian air defense interceptors and what can be done to solve that problem. Justin makes a strong case for how only a dozen or so Swedish Saab Gripen jets could make a huge difference for Ukrainian objective to make Russian air...

Dmitri Alperovitch talks with Alexander Gabuev (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) and Sergey Radchenko (Johns Hopkins SAIS), two of the foremost experts on the true nature of the China-Russia relationship. Topics discussed: - The signs that the Xi-Putin summit in Moscow last month may have achieved more substance than many may realize - How China may covertly help Russia in procurement of weapons and munitions - Why China may not be interested in a near-term resolution to the war -...

Dmitri Alperovitch talks with Vincent Chao, a Taiwanese politician and former diplomat and national security strategist, about why Taiwan is moving so slowly to modernize its military and increase deterrence of an existential threat of Chinese invasion. They discuss Taiwan's messy identity politics, whether Taiwanese will fight to defend their freedoms, Chinese misinformation efforts to drive wedges in Taiwan's political system and alliances, whether Silicon Shield can protect Taiwan and why...

Dmitri Alperovitch sits down once again with Michael Kofman, Russian military analyst, who has just returned from visiting the frontline in Bakhmut, to talk about his observations on the fighting there, as well as common misperceptions about Wagner Group, impact of Western training programs on Ukrainian military force composition, the adaptations and learnings of both militaries so far in this war and the outlook for the upcoming Ukrainian offensive.

Dmitri Alperovitch sits down with Michael Kofman to discuss the strategic mistakes of Russia's current offensive in the Donbas and the prospects of an upcoming Ukrainian counteroffensive. We also dive into the implications of the remarkable Prigozhin vs Shoigu gangland-style fight ('razborki' in Russian) and how Russian incompetence may have been the best Ukrainian asset in this war. Mike predicts another Russian mobilization wave may come later this year. And for the one year anniversary of...

Dmitri Alperovitch talks to David Bramlette, a former U.S. Ranger and Green Beret combat veteran, who has recently returned from fighting with the Ukrainian Foreign Legion in the Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. David shares his experiences of the war, why he went over to risk his life for a foreign country, his impressions of the Russian and Ukrainian forces, and what happens when Americans get wounded in Ukraine.

Dmitri Alperovitch talks to Silverado's own experts - Sarah Stewart (CEO) and Andy David (Senior Director of Research and Analysis) about Silverado's new just published research report that dives deep into the analysis of Russian import trade flows to figure out how Russia is working around the export controls and sanctions it has been put under since the invasion of Ukraine. The report finds that Russia benefited from high inventory levels prior to the war and is now benefiting from China...

Since the start of the Russian invasion last February, it has been a commonly accepted wisdom that Ukraine will not try to retake Crimea - an action that many in the West worry will trigger an escalation - until it has taken back all of the territory lost since February 2022. In this episode, Dmitri Alperovitch once again talks to Sergii Grabskyi, a Reserve Colonel in the Ukrainian military, who challenges that notion. Sergii makes a compelling case that Ukraine is likely to try to retake...

Dmitri Alperovitch talks with Russian military expert Michael Kofman about: - Why this war may be decided by which side can stretch their ammunition supplies the longest - Putin's visit to Belarus and whether a new Russian offensive may be coming soon - 3 areas in which Russian military has been outclassed by Ukrainian forces - How Russian Military Intelligence (GRU) has performed in this conflict - Whether Surovikin is the best military commander Russia has had thus far in this war - What...

Dmitri Alperovitch talks with Michael Kofman - The strategic impact of Russian terror strike campaign against Ukrainian critical infrastructure - Likelihood of a near-term Ukrainian offensive to retake the South - Is Ukraine trying to retake Kinburn Spit to control the Dniepier river? - Would tanks help Ukraine break through the Russian trenches in the Donbas? - Will we see significant offensive action this winter? - Why the war will not stop at February 24 lines

In this episode, Dmitri Alperovitch talks with historian and Russia expert Mark Galeotti about: - Whether Putin is capable of compromising his war aims in any potential future negotiations with Ukraine - Th real reason for why he chose to invade Ukraine - Why he went ahead and annexed territories he didn't even have full control over - The similarities between Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 - Why Prigozhin and Kadyrov are no threat to...

In this episode, Dmitri Alperovitch talks with Dr. Danny Moore, a scholar of offensive cyber operations and a former cyber operator in the Israeli Defense Forces, about the successes and failures of Russian cyber attacks against Ukraine, the reasons for the lack of Russian cyber retaliation against the West, how the cyber component of warfare might play out different in a potential conflict with China over Taiwan, and the disturbing vulnerabilities of US weapons platforms like the F35 to...

Why has Russia been unable to suppress Ukrainian air defenses? What is the true state of its missile stockpiles and production rates? Is the F-16 the best aircraft to provide to Ukraine to replace its old Soviet fighter jets? How can the West disrupt the chips supplies for the Russian military? Dmitri Alperovitch talks to Justin Brock and Dr. Jack Watling from Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) about their findings from the recent trip to Ukraine

What lessons should Taiwan and its allies draw from the current conflict in Ukraine? Is the tank obsolete? Are commercial drones the future of warfare? Dmitri Alperovitch speaks to Franz-Stefan Gady, a research fellow at IISS and a deep thinker on the future of conflict and war, about his recent trip to Ukraine and the non-obvious lessons for Taiwan from this conflict

Military coup or orderly transition? Nothing lasts forever and in this edition of the podcast, Dmitri Alperovitch speaks to Daniel Treisman, professor of political science at University of California, who specializes on Russian politics and economics, about how Putin's multi-decade reign of Russia might end

Dmitri Alperovitch talks with Michael Kofman, who is just back from a trip to Ukraine. They discuss: - The latest on the fight in Kherson and Luhansk - Impact of Russian terror strikes on civilian infrastructure - Ukrainian morale - How Putin's mobilization is progressing - What the Russians are trying to achieve with the dirty bomb scares, - Lkelihood of use of nuclear weapons and - How this war might end.

Dmitri Alperovitch and Silverado's Executive Director Sarah Stewart talk to Kevin Wolf, former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration, about the latest export control measures announced by the Biden Administration that are now crippling the Chinese semiconductor companies and why this is one of the most important actions the US could have taken to deter an invasion of Taiwan

In the latest episode, Dmitri Alperovitch talks with Michael Kofman about the Kerch bridge attack, as well as: - Prospect of nuclear weapons use by Putin - Analysis of how Russia's mobilization drive has gone thus far - Kherson and Donbas counteroffensives by Ukrainian forces - Why the Russians continue their pointless attacks in Donetsk oblasts - Ongoing game of musical chairs taking place at the highest levels of Russian military hierarchy - And the strange things happening with Starlink in...

Twitter Space recording from September 21, 2022 of a conversation between Dmitri Alperovitch , Michael Kofman and Rob Lee on the implications of Putin's partial mobilization order and the impact it may have on the outcome of the war, as well as Putin's own political futures

How did the Russian northern front collapse so rapidly and what can be expected now in the fight for Donbas and Kherson? Dmitri Alperovitch discusses the latest Ukraine counteroffensive developments with Sergii Grabskyi, a Reserve Colonel in the Ukrainian military.

Twitter Space recording from September 10, 2022 of a conversation between Dmitri Alperovitch and Michael Kofman on the implications of the rapid collapse of the Russian forces pocket in northern Ukraine and what the future holds for Ukrainian counteroffensives in the north and south

Was there ever a grain shortage crisis caused by the Russian blockade of Ukrainian exports? Dmitri Alperovitch gets the real story from Dr. Scott Irwin, Professor of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at University of Illinois and an international leader in the field of agricultural economics. Dr. Irwin discusses the true state of grain markets and the causes behind the recent increase in food prices and what can be done about it. Episode produced by Patrick Gray (risky.biz)

Dmitri Alperovitch discusses the impact of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian military facilities and logistics in Crimea with Michael Kofman (Research Program Director in the Russia Studies Program at the Center for Naval Analysis). And Dmitri's theory on the Russian masterplan for Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant

In this podcast Dmitri Alperovitch interviews Sergii Grabskyi, a Reserve Colonel in the Ukrainian military, about Ukraine’s upcoming counteroffensive. Michael Kofman, Research Program Director in the Russia Studies Program at the Center for Naval Analysis, also joins the show to share his latest analysis of what’s happening on the ground in Ukraine.

Dmitri Alperovitch talks with energy markets and russian oil and gas sector expert Sergey Vakulenko (formerly with Gazprom Neft, Royal Dutch Shell and IHS Markit) about how Russia is engineering an energy crisis in Europe, with spillover effects all over the world.