Estonian Leader Returns From Ukraine’s Front Line: NATO Isn’t Ready
I interviewed Estonian Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Marko Mikkelsen after his frontline visit to Ukraine. We examine drone warfare, Ukraine’s air-defense needs, Russia’s military adaptation, NATO d...
15 Sep 22min
Trump Claimed an Energy Deal—UKRAINE HIT ANOTHER RUSSIAN REFINERY
rump said Ukraine and Russia had agreed to stop striking energy targets. But Ukraine struck the Syzran refinery, while Russian drones hit gas stations in Kyiv. I examine what was struck, what each gov...
15 Sep 15min
Putin’s War Is Splitting the Kremlin—And Squeezing Russia Dry
I examine reported Kremlin divisions over the Ukraine war, Russia’s wartime budget and inflation pressures, post-election mobilization risks, EU sanctions divisions, NATO security concerns, and Ukrain...
14 Sep 24min
Trump Thinks He Has Leverage on Zelensky—But Zelensky Has His Own
I examine Trump’s demand that Zelensky stop striking Russian diesel refineries, the global diesel market, Ukraine’s shrinking U.S. leverage problem, and Kyiv’s proposed energy and maritime ceasefire. ...
14 Sep 14min
Did A RUSSIAN Leak Lead to the Strike that Killed a Russian General?
I examine Russian Telegram-channel reports that Lieutenant General Sergei Milchakov, commander of Russia’s 51st Combined Arms Army, was killed in a Ukrainian missile strike on a command post in occupi...
14 Sep 14min
Putin Needs Russia to Look Normal for 7 More Days
I examine why Russia’s fuel shortages have become a political problem for Vladimir Putin days before the September 18–20, 2026 State Duma elections. Reports from St. Petersburg, Chelyabinsk, and Nizhn...
13 Sep 17min
Kushner Says PEACE Hinges on Land RUSSIA COULDN’T TAKE
I examine Jared Kushner’s argument that a Ukraine settlement hinges on territory Volodymyr Zelensky refuses to surrender—and why that framing leaves out the equally central issue: Vladimir Putin’s ref...
13 Sep 16min
SO MUCH NEWS TO COVER TODAY
I examine a consequential night in the Russia-Ukraine war: Ukraine reported strikes on the TANECO refinery in Tatarstan—more than 1,200 kilometers from Ukraine—and the Slavyansk EKO refinery in Krasno...
13 Sep 16min
