Author: Jordan Henry
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July 13, 2026: “Time Is on Our Side”
Russia Decoded This week, Vesti Nedeli contrasted the two warring nations: Russia endures mere discomfort, from gas lines to rationing to rising prices, while life in Ukraine becomes unsustainable, with empty Patriot batteries, draft riots in Lviv, and Russian missiles landing at will. The message to Russian viewers is unmistakable: “we are taking some blows
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Russia’s Pain at the Pump (w/ Sergey Vakulenko)
Three Questions Since April, Ukraine has dramatically escalated its drone campaign against Russia’s oil refineries, knocking out a substantial share of the country’s refining capacity and triggering gasoline shortages from Crimea to central Russia. What was once a nuisance for Moscow has become something closer to a full-blown fuel crisis. Yet the strikes’ effects are
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July 6, 2026: Does Putin Have a Way Out?
Russia Decoded With Ukraine’s drone campaign striking ever deeper into Russia, Western analysts have rushed to declare a turning point in the war. But is it one? This week’s Vesti Nedeli broadcast, pointedly titled “War for Peace,” reads like a direct rebuttal to the argument that Putin has trapped himself in a geopolitical standoff with
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Geo-Connectivity and the Death of Eurasia
In moments of crisis, the connections that bind Eurasia’s economies together can become the very channels through which instability spreads. This “geo-connectivity” framework responds to a dynamic that became impossible to ignore this year with three concurrent war theaters overlapping across Eurasia: Ukraine, Iran, and Afghanistan-Pakistan. Existing analytical traditions treat each theater in isolation and
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June 29, 2026: Putin Takes the Wheel
Russia Decoded This week’s Vesti Nedeli broadcast was especially Putin-centric. Acknowledging fuel shortages, reciting battlefield details by heart, and personally steering the response to Ukraine’s strikes on Russian refineries, the Russian leader appears not just in command but energized by the continuing confrontation with the West. However, recent events — from Ukrainian drone strikes on
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