One of the Largest War Machines in Human History (w/ Illia Ponomarenko) | Shield of the Republic

Eric and Eliot welcome Illia Ponomarenko, a Ukrainian journalist, formerly with the Kyiv Post and Kyiv Independent (of which he was a founder), and the author of I Will Show You it Was: The Story of Wartime Kyiv (New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024). They discuss how he came to write the book, the buildup to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Russia's over the top rhetoric and bad assumptions about the nature of Ukraine and the likely course of the war, the criminal nature of Putin's regime, the Russian failure at the battle of Kyiv and whether that means Russia has lost the war, the delay in U.S. assistance, his own experience in the U.S. and why it made him optimistic that the U.S. would do the right thing, the impact of U.S. and western assistance on the war, the Belarus and Istanbul negotiations in March 2022 that some have alleged might have ended the war (spoiler alert: the Russians were not negotiating in good faith), the current battlefield situation, and how this war ends. You can follow Illia on Twitter (X) @IAPonomarenko and you can support his work at buymeacoffee.com/saintanger.
I Will Show You How It Was: The Story of Wartime Kyiv:
a.co/d/3QxgSKd
Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.
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[@LiberalinOregon]

Thank you for having Illia on your program. I just love this guy. 🇺🇸❤️🇺🇦

[@maryelk]

You have taken the words right out of my mouth; Slava Ukraini;слава Україні

[@max_skim-pontoon-cough]

@@maryelkhe’s a Trump supporter…

[@-Gramps]

I just saw this guest on the London Times Radio podcast! Very enthusiastic & informative young man. He has a lot of frontline experience to share!

[@fozziebear888]

The people of Ukraine are modern day heros and VERY BRAVE to fight the murderer & War Criminal Tyrant Putin. All free nations MUST support our brothers & sisters in Ukraine period. Thank u for ur bravery & ur reporting from front lines Mr. Ponomarenko. SLAVA UKRAINE 🇺🇦

[@jennifergeorge7641]

Absolutely! They deserve all our support! I’m disgusted with the delay in aid caused by congress. I hope we will be good allies from now on Slava Ukraini!

[@rcchristian2]

@@jennifergeorge7641 It's literally crazy that Republicans blocked the aid over politics. They are becoming a danger to the world. Republicans in congress know that if Ukraine falls, the USA is going to have to send troops but yet they delayed the aid just to satisfy their base of supporters who are filled with conspiracies about the war. Sad state of affairs going on the USA as well as in Ukraine.

[@lesleepetersen87]

Thank you for this interview!!! I look forward to reading Illia’s book!

[@MarcosElMalo2]

I probably will not ever read it, but not because I don’t want to. But I did enjoy very much his various takes on the war, Ukraine, American politics, etc.

[@drew4324]

One of my favorite news reporting the Bulwark has done so far this year. Illia Ponomarenko I knew nothing about and his passion and charisma were fantastic. I am just a dumb engineer not a podcaster, charismatic or information transferrer of any skill, I wish the hosts would have either let him keep going or said hey this conversation is so amazing we are gonna keep recording another hour and you can subscribe to Bulwark plus to hear the rest of our conversation. I would have instantly signed up to hear more.

[@andrewackerley9985]

These Ukrainian guys & girls are super-heroes. Not only are they brave but they are also clever & versatile! It's going to take time but Putin will lose. Not only has this been an asymmetric war..but also it's a just war. Here's to the Warriors fighting for their country in The Donbas. Slava Ukraini! 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

[@delta5297]

The battle that matters most isn't the one in Ukraine, it's the one here for the hearts and minds of Americans. If Trump is elected president again, America will switch sides and join the authoritarian axis, and democracy everywhere will be extinguished.

[@ma4450]

Ponomarenko points out that under Putin Russia has devolved: it's no longer a legitimate government or state or political entity but only a Mafia (a Mafia with nukes). Similarly the Trump Republican Party has devolved from one of the greatest political parties in history, into another Mafia, also with nukes. If the Republicans seize power in November, we will see Putin levels of viciousness, kleptocracy, torture and violence in our future too.

[@rcchristian2]

And it isn't going to end in 2025. Republicans have initiated project 2025. They laid out a full list of what they are going to do if they get in office. Trump will initiate "Schedule F" which allows him to take people out of their jobs quickly, so he can replace them with his own, no vote. Just removes them with Schedule F. Then he initiates project 2025. They are going to try to eliminate the Dept of Education, go right at the FBI, DOJ, CIA, and all the 3 letter organizations. Behead the EPA (with Richard Nixon a republican actually created to help protect lower and middle classes from large corporations) Going after the CDC and WHO. They have now deleted the website because people started catching on. And if Trump doesn't get into power, project 2025, turns into project 2029. This is just the beginning of this.

[@YaleRoth]

Fantastic interview… thank you

[@tracevicente]

Please come to Threads, Illia. Thank you for your vital journalism.

[@maurachapman4179]

Thank you for this insightful interview. SLAVA UKRAINE

[@infochannel392]

Four more years needs to become "FOUR MORE JUSTICES, FOUR MORE JUSTICES, FOUR MORE JUSTICES" EXPAND THE COURT !!!!!

[@JAllenKaiser]

Thank you thank you thank you for interviewing Illia! Slava Ukraine!

[@viktorlarsson5193]

Very good and informative interview. Ukraine is fighting for its own survival as an independent state, but Europe must stand by them until the end. Their cause is also ours. If the proud Ukrainians don't get our full support, God help us all. Putin's ambitions are Russia's borders as they looked before WW1.

[@kyttraus]

Good stuff

[@Momfia51]

Oh my gosh, Illia!! #SlavaUkraini

[@silentwhisper8633]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@marylesak8529]

Slava Ukraine 🇺🇦

[@max_skim-pontoon-cough]

Geroyam Slava Kak chayst Rossye 😂

[@MarcosElMalo2]

I’m loving this new show! I just wish I wasn’t getting so many golf equipment ads on Bulwark videos. I’m not a golfer. Is this a plot to Make America Golf Again?

[@GrahamCStrouse]

😂👍

[@strugglemonkey]

I get CONSTANT Trump ads begging for money. It's EXHAUSTING.

[@rcchristian2]

@@strugglemonkey The good thing about it is... Trump is siphoning money off Republicans and funneling that to lawyers and also victims, who create foundations in order to stop some of the crimes Trumps been committing. In a strange way, he is draining money from Republicans over to something that can sometimes be useful

[@catrantery]

Interesting

[@chronic_payne5669]

1:22 Is “holiday of freedom” a common saying? I’ve never heard that phrase before

[@davidobriend8560]

I looked more, liberation of dachau was april 29.

[@RadCenter]

"Holiday of freedom" refers to Passover.

[@trekiemom]

Powerful ❤

[@kirkwagner461]

Dear Bulwark: Love your stuff. This vid needs stronger volume. KZbin for me is now inserting many advertisements, which are very LOUD. If I play your vid at a comfortable to listen to volume, the ads are blowing out my windows. I'm not a sound guy, so I have no suggestions about how to achieve this. But I love your content, and wish you all success,

[@karievanblaricom189]

I would suggest upgrading to the premium ad-free version🤗 I hate the ads too. What a difference

[@damiannunez416]

💙💯💙💯💙

[@arimathean4128]

Headline typo: That should be "Shield of the Republic", not "State of the Republic". This is the second episode in a row that has not appeared on the Bulwark site. What's up with that?

[@beckiskiss]

❤

[@surana4746]

💙💛🇺🇦

[@gianttv8804]

“The Missouri school of journalism,” dog, you went to Mizzou.😒….😂 STL!!!✊🏾

[@oldreprobate2748]

Had the US education system adopted to it's history, civics, and government class work the the final address to the American people of President Dwight D Eisenhower, perhaps the military industrial complex wouldn't have so much leverage in determining whether or not the United states goes to war. The military industrial complex not only serves the manufacture of US weapons, they service the arms brokers that supply the weapons that has created wars just or not, around the world. These arms brokers also supply US arms to the gangs in places like south and central America, Puerto Rico, and Africa, and here in the UnitedStates. The objective is nothing but financial gain, and that gain is given priority over human life. A small journey into US history I hope you will appreciate and strike a spark of dissent to war.

[@MarcosElMalo2]

You’re ignoring the post Soviet history of U.S. MIC reduction which went on unabated for ten years and has never quite regained its cold war influence since the GWOT began in earnest. The MIC has been scaled back to such an extent that a few ambitious dictatorships have found the encouragement to challenge the political order. And our industrial base had shrunk to the point that the rogue nations’ challenges have become plausible. Our military might not be up to the challenge if we don’t rebuild. I’m not going to debate the validity on Eisenhower’s warning at the time he made it. But I will say that it is irrelevant to our current historical context.

[@user-pd5qz2vt2c]

yours is a shallow distortion of the geopolitics of the Cold War and the numerous factional hotspots that have defined the world since WWII. We have had mostly peace in most countries due to the MIC which has led to the global prosperity of the last several decades. Please expand your understanding of how the world actually works.

[@rcchristian2]

Great comment, but I think in order to deal with this issue, you also have to do what you say, but also put restrictions on capitalism and corporations/special interests. Capitalism is one of the greatest things for progress, but without restrictions, it starts to work against the public. Lots of these wars are shifting to private corporations like Blackwater (who had to change their name after the Nissor Square massacre in Iraq. No politician should be allowed to be in any corporation that is involved in creating weapons.. or oil.. like Haliburton and what Dick Cheney did. Dick Cheney in the early 90s was on record that the USA should not go into Iraq. Clinton won the presidency and Cheney went to work for Haliburton. Gore wins the popular vote in 2000.. .but the electoral college over rules the popular vote, Bush gets into power and Cheney moves from Haliburton to the Vice presidency???? Then Bush lied about WMDs, and linking Al-qaeda to Iraq, Cheney changed his stance on Iraq and wanted to destroy it and the USA went into an illegal war of aggression that was condemned by the UN and international courts. This led to all those private military companies ravaging Iraq and eventually to the Nissor Square massacre where the USA private military companies slaughtered a bunch of Iraqis and were charged with war crimes. Trump when he got in to power then pardoned them and Erik Prince simply renamed the company... business as usual. Now we are in the drone wars...

[@peterjaniceforan3080]

🇺🇸🇺🇦🫡

[@catoyz]

Do you imagine people have 56 minutes for a political book plug? Not me.