Last week marked the 4-year anniversary of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. To mark this date, I had the great pleasure to speak with Gen. David Petraeus to do an overview of where the war is today and where it’s heading. 

Among other topics discussed, we focused on:

• Why Americans should consider Ukraine vital to US national security
• How the West/Ukraine can stop Putin
• The current state of the battlefield and outlook this year
• The primary lessons Western militaries can learn from Ukraine

And lastly, are Ukrainians currently "The Greatest Generation" of America's past?

About the Guest

General David Petraeus, served over 37 years in the U.S. military, including command of the Surge in Iraq, command of U.S. Central Command, and command of coalition forces in Afghanistan. Following retirement from the military, Gen. Petraeus served as Director of the CIA under President Obama. He is currently a Partner at KKR.

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Does Ukraine have a Nazi problem?
How pervasive is far-right nationalism in Ukraine?
What is the history of the Kremlin's propaganda campaign about Ukrainian Nazis?
Why does Moscow insist on calling Ukrainians all Nazis?
And what about Nazism in Russia?

We touch upon all of this in this very illuminating episode with Dr. Taras Kuzio, who has researched and written extensively on the topic for years.

I admit that this is not an area of specialty of mine but am of course familiar with the issue. As usual with Kremlin propaganda, there is a kernel of truth to all of this as there exists of course far-right nationalist groups in Ukraine. The question is how pervasive and influential are they, and where this Kremlin propaganda comes from. Dr. Kuzio helped me better understand this and will be highly informative to listeners. 

And enjoy the voice of Start Wars' Mark Hamill announcing the end of an air raid alert in the middle of the podcast:)

About the Guest

Taras Kuzio, British Professor of Political Science at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. His area of study is Russian and Ukrainian political, economic and security affairs, and he has contributed pieces to the Atlantic Council and Foreign Affairs.

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We delved into yet another Kremlin lie, this one a recurring theme literally for the past 60 years going back to the Soviet era - US biolabs around the word out to attack Russia. To reveal this lie, I spoke with Dr. Dmytro Stepanskyi, the head of Microbiology at the Dnipro State University.

In short, this is an interesting propaganda tool by the Kremlin because they are directly accusing the US of what the Kremlin does - possesses covert biolabs which have been used to kill individuals outside of Russia.

Some important links regarding to the topic:
https://thebulletin.org/2025/12/a-decade-of-chemical-and-biological-disinformation-mapped/
https://thebulletin.org/2022/10/the-russian-biological-weapons-program-in-2022/?fbclid=IwY2xjawPjB29leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFZVTRPcGxweXM5Vk1xQnpxc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHokiKQtnstu7X9ZIH-8WzwdAP96ak5bF6Hw1-0IenpQVbY756nPYq6H_5oPF_aem_MzAbLH28nKKxOoOtS5rCkQ

https://www.lawfaremedia.org/contributors/dregan
https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2025/04/04/biological-threats-in-the-us-annual-threat-assessment-a-consistent-view-reinforces-the-need-for-continued-action/

About the Guest

Dr. Dmytro Stepanskyi, MD, PhD, Professor, Head of department of Microbiology, Virology, Immunology and Epidemiology – Dnipro State Medical  University, American Society for Microbiology Ambassador to Ukraine

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With peace talks ongoing for the past year Trump has been in office, it's worth asking: where are we with the peace process and where will things go from here?

We've hit another inflection point it seems. Trump's White House is eager to claim 90% of work is done with the peace talks. The West seems to have largely aligned around their position and the US seems to believe a deal could be coming. 

However, the experts I spoke with in this episode are far more skeptical. And as am I. 

Are these talks credible and leading somewhere?
Is Putin interested in reaching a deal?
Could Zelenskyi agree to what's on the table?
Is Europe's Coalition of the Willing a serious proposal?
Where do we go from here?

Listen in to get the answers to this and many other questions from two of the leading political scientists focused on Ukraine: Taras Kuzio and Paul D'Anieri. 

About the Guests

Taras Kuzio, British Professor of Political Science at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. His area of study is Russian and Ukrainian political, economic and security affairs, and he has contributed pieces to the Atlantic Council and Foreign Affairs.

Paul D'Anieri, Professor of Political Science and former Provost of University of California, Riverside, specializing politics and international relations in the former Soviet Union, focusing on Ukraine and Russia. He has been called “one of the leading scholars of the study of contemporary Ukraine”

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It's always nice to meet and speak with like-minded, passionate, empathetic people who dedicate their lives to something bigger than themselves.

And that's what this podcast was all about. I had the great pleasure of speaking with a proud Ukraine supporter, who also comes from my hometown of Cleveland! 

Brandon Chrostowski has travelled multiple times to Ukraine to help, not because of his heritage (he's not Ukrainian) but just because it's the right thing to do and he has a skill that can contribute to some good. Listen in for some inspiration from a guy who is doing great stuff for the people of Ukraine, those in other conflict zones, as well as those in Cleveland. 

About the Guest

Brandon Chrostowski, Chef, Restaurateur, and Politician residing in Cleveland, Ohio. He is the founder, president, and CEO of EDWINS Leadership and Restaurant Institute, an NGO that acts as both a French restaurant and culinary institute training former prison inmates. Chrostowski is also a certified sommelier and a fromager, and ran for mayor of Cleveland in 2017. He has visited Ukraine (and other conflict zones) multiple times, bringing food, conducting cooking classes,  and rebuilding a children's hospital, while also providing financial support to those suffering from the war.

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I admit I departed from my usual more detached analytical style, and spoke a bit more from the heart in this one. 

Too much has happened and for too long to not do a podcast like this. Most of my adult life I have spent in Europe and so have gained a solid perspective on how Europeans and other non-Americans view the US and how these views have developed. I'm also asked routinely by friends and family back in the US how non-Americans view the US. 

So in this episode, motivated by Trump's threats to European and NATO democratic allies, I felt compelled to dive into these perceptions and touched upon what it means to be American. 

Who are we as Americans if we don't have principles and beliefs that we ascribe to?

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With so much disinformation about the war particularly at this moment, I felt it would be good to do a show on some of these lies. Although I was hoping we could delve into the many myths of this war, we ended up speaking primarily about the central myth of this war: the Russian lie that this is a defensive war in retaliation against the last 30 years of NATO expansion. Listen in to understand the numerous reasons why this is clearly a lie.

I had the great pleasure speaking with Dr. Branislav Slantchev, a professor of Political Science at UC San Diego, who helped provide extensive evidence and quotes by Russian leaders themselves clearly setting the record straight and proving this is a war of Russian imperial aggression, not a defensive war against NATO.

His Foreign Affairs article  - https://www.foreignaffairs.com/ukraine/obstacles-diplomacy-ukraine

And I highly recommend you follow him on X at https://x.com/slantchev

About the Guest
Dr. Branislav Slantchev is a Professor of Political Science at the University of California San Diego. Slantchev teaches courses in international relations, national security, and game theory.

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So what now in Venezuela? Trump has put himself in dangerous territory by removing a foreign leader and now vowing to "run" the country, precisely what he has promised his MAGA support base the US under him would no longer do. 

What happens next? 
Why did he do it?
And above all, how will it impact Ukraine?

If history is any indicator, I'm not optimistic for how this plays out for Trump, which ironically may work to Ukraine's favor. Tune in to find out why.

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There's an information war going on related to the War in Ukraine, and unfortunately Russia has been very successful in spreading its propaganda into the West and influencing popular perceptions and also policy-makers themselves. 

I thought it would be informative to have on the show a Ukrainian who recently moved to the US and what she has seen on the ground related to Americans' perspectives on the war and what has been alarming to her. 

In our discussion we touched upon the war itself, what Americans believe and understand, views on the Russian opposition and Navalny himself, as well as issues like language and religion in Ukraine. 

Please listen in to better understand and expose this information war. 

About the Guest
Olga Usenko, Strategic Communications and Legal Market Analyst with nearly 20 years of experience leading high-impact research and media projects in Ukraine’s legal sector. Olga holda a PhD in International Economics and is currently a Fellow at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, focusing on strategic communications and global partnerships for Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction and investment growth.

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Over 6 mn Ukrainians fled their homeland after the full-scale invasion and have since settled abroad, mostly in Europe. In country after country, Ukrainians economic and financial contribution far outpaces the social support provided to them by those countries.

To delve into this story, specifically as it pertains to the US, I had a very informative discussion with Oleksandr Romanishyn, a former Deputy Minister of Economy and current head of the think tank ISE group. He launched an Impact Study into Ukrainians' contribution to the US economy, which is far more substantial than I possibly could have imagined. 

Oleksandr Romanyshin is a policymaker and economist, having served as Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine (2020-2021). He is currently a Board Member of ISE Group and an Advisor to the Ukrainian American Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UACCI). With over 15 years of experience spanning government, IFIs, and corporate finance, he has contributed to Ukraine’s post-war recovery strategy, including inputs to the European Commission’s €50 billion Ukraine Facility. He was engaged in M&A and corporate finance in such companies as EY, Volwest Group, and Midland Group. He was the head of the World Bank's private sector development project in Ukraine.

Beyond that, Oleksandr has published critical work on disinformation, the state of Ukraine's energy infrastructure, and local governance - all of which we discussed in the podcast.

Links as noted in the podcast:
Impact Study: https://ise-group.org/impact-study
Platform UA2USA: https://ua2usa.org/
ISE's work on disinformation: https://ise-group.org/disinformation
AI and disinformation policy paper: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/artificial-intelligence/articles/10.3389/frai.2025.1569115

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