In the bunker with Darth Putin

In this episode, we welcome David Frum, a Canadian political commentator and former speechwriter for President George W. Bush. David is currently a senior editor at The Atlantic and an MSNBC contributor. 

What we discuss:

• David expresses his belief that Trump will soon lose: "He would seem like a stronger candidate if he just stayed at Mar-a-Lago and kept quiet."
• We explore how Fox News broadcasts, let's say, false remarks on television and corrects them on Twitter. This implies that the modified message would only be seen by a considerably smaller audience.
• "That is an impressive disinformation project," David remarks, "to tell people things are going bad when they are going well." As I watched the first 2024 Trump-Biden debate, this struck a chord with my own thinking.
• Do you remember Russian-backed disinformation that the evil West is managing biolabs in Ukraine? David explains how the U.S. and Europe supported researchers from the former USSR who possessed sensitive knowledge to make sure they had continuous employment and didn't end up working for malicious actors. This disinformation was debunked on the BBC as well: https://www.bbc.com/news/60711705 
• We briefly mention Lee Harvey Oswald—yes, that guy who apparently shot JFK. He defected to the USSR and worked at a factory in Minsk, my hometown. He lived in the city center. Fancy. The Soviets were happy to award him for his change of loyalty.

Yours truly,

Katie from Minsk

* This episode was originally recorded for our Patreon supporters who receive premium content on Belarus, Russia, and Darth's insights on Twitter debates.

Join us on patreon.com/IntheBunkerwithDarth to engage directly with our team, ask questions, and shape the content you love. *

Greetings from the Bunker! In this 1-on-1 episode with Darth, we discuss:

• Russia-Belarus integration process: Yeah, we all have heard about it for over two decades, and Russia's appetite to swallow Belarus sounds like a false alarm—until it isn't.

• Putin's visit to Belarus on May 23, 2024. After all, Vladimir doesn't have many choices for traveling these days. The ICC warrant might have something to do with it. It's a good thing that Luka simply can't say no to him, so they can keep each other company.

• The Kremlin placed tactical nukes in Belarus a year ago. Why bother? Since it doesn't give Moscow's management an actual strategic advantage.

• The reorientation of Belarusian state-owned enterprises towards servicing Russian military needs.

• Grotesque trials against Lukashenka's opponents in absentia, where I am among the defendants.

Yours sincerely,

Katie from Minsk

Tune into our chat with Rick Wilson, an American political strategist who ran campaigns for George W. Bush (R), Dick Cheney (R), and Rudy Giuliani (R).

In this episode:

• Why is U.S. support for Ukraine being micromanaged?
• Why do Putin's policies resonate with Trump supporters?
• Rick, who is the fifth-generation Floridian, is boasting that his soon-to-be-born granddaughter gets a parole officer at birth. Oh, those Floridians!

Darth and I welcome Michael Weiss, an investigative journalist renowned for his extensive coverage of the wars in Syria and Ukraine, as well as his publications on Russian espionage and disinformation. Amid a fair amount of jokes and sarcasm, we delve into discussions about the GRU and how its spy culture contrasts with that of the SVR, Russia's foreign intelligence service.

We look at some of the GRU’s “successful” operations, as Michael is currently writing a book about this infamous institution. Interestingly, some of the most talented individuals who served in the GRU during its inception in the 1920s-1930s, were foreigners rather than Russians.

My favorite takeaways:

• How the appeasement of Russia failed: attempts by the Obama and early Biden's administrations to restart relations and "tickle Putin's tummy" were fruitless.
• Michael nearly developed a PTSD from dealing with the divided Syrian opposition, which had a hard time uniting against the common enemy. I can relate to this, since there are similar conflicts among the Belarusian democratic groups in exile.
• Do you remember the footage of Russian soldiers shipping the looted fridges and other stuff from Ukraine via Belarus post offices? The footage of that circus was actually leaked to the public by the Belarusian state services, so there is a bit of the Fifth column in the Belarusian power vertical.

Yours truly,

Katie from Minsk

This is our first episode in the monthly series on Belarus. 

You'll gain insights into Belarusian domestic politics as we discuss how our guy is running the country, relying on his family and the network of "mini-garchs.". According to Wikipedia, he is the "longest-serving European president." That's one way to put it. Tune in and learn more about our lovely dictator's adventures. 

On a more serious note, there are over 1,300 political prisoners, political repressions continue as we speak, and my home country is at its biggest political crisis in its modern history. More on this in the upcoming episodes.

Subscribe to our Patreon/IntheBunkerwithDarth to get fast access to our newest episodes and to ask questions to the Master Strategist.

Yours truly,

Katie from Minsk

In this episode, Ben Wittes agrees to serve as a token for the gender equality balance, as he is the second male guest in our podcast series. On a more serious note, we're discussing Trump’s trials and how they'll impact the 2024 elections. While Darth’s parody plots to bring the bad guy back to the White House, we are discussing the unfavorable consequences for U.S. foreign policy if that happens.

Follow Ben’s work on www.lawfaremedia.org and on Instagram at instagram.com/benjaminwittes, as he was blocked on Twitter for mischief. We hope you like our talk, as we shed some light on why it happened and dive into the details of Ben’s challenge to fight Putin, “Any Time, Any Place He Can't Have Me Arrested.”

Consider supporting us on patreon.com/IntheBunkerwithDarth,

Yours truly, Katie twitter.com/kshmatsina

Darth & I are joined in bunker by Natalia Antonova.  Natalia is an OSINT researcher, writer, playwright and close watcher of Russia.  Based in DC, she's from Ukraine but also lived in Moscow for a number of years.  

Listen and learn about Russian homo-romanticism, as opposed to homo eroticism, incels who hate women but love Putin, techbros who love Putin and sex offenders who also lvoe Putin.  There's a fair few double meanings and Darth pointing out and important spelling point.

In this episode Darth is joined by Maria Snegovaya.  Maria is a post doc at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service, a Senior Fellow with the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and a Fellow at the Illiberalism Studies Program at George Washington University.

More interesting, the Kremlin declared her a foreign agent so Darth and her discuss Russian public opinion, what they think and know and the crazy stuff the Kremlin believes.

She decided to choose a drink not on the menu, presumably thinking she'd have a better chance of survival

In this episode Darth and I joined by Minna Ålander, an expert on both Finland and Germany as well as Arctic security.  We talk about German relations with Russia, nuclear blackmail, how China is apparently an arctic nation, and Macron's recent statements about the war.  Darth insisted that Minna decide between tea, sushi and perfume.

Katie: @kshmatsina

Minna: @minna_alander

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IntheBunkerwithDarth

In this Episode Darth and I talk about the election results and how it was a real cliffhanger.  We talk a little about what this might mean in future and what the prospects are for Russia becoming a democracy (spoiler, not much).  We recap some of the events this week aside from the voting theatre and then introduce the Patreon we're gonna be loading these future epsides to.