The Week Ahead In Russia

How big a deal is Kyiv's incursion into the Kursk region? What are Ukraine's goals? And what are the ramifications for Russia? This week, host Steve Gutterman discusses these issues with Oleg Ignatov, a senior analyst for Russia at the International Crisis Group.

Russian forces press forward in eastern Ukraine but also suffer setbacks. Dara Massicot, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and an expert on Russian military issues, joins host Steve Gutterman to discuss the battlefield situation, manpower problems, and the talk about efforts to end the fighting.

President Joe Biden has withdrawn from the U.S. presidential race and Donald Trump has picked J.D. Vance as his running mate. Sam Greene, director of Democratic Resilience at CEPA and a professor at the King's Russia Institute, discusses what these developments could mean for Ukraine and its defense against the Russian invasion.

July 17 marks 10 years since a Russian missile shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over the war zone in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 passengers and crew. Christopher Miller, Ukraine correspondent for the Financial Times and author of The War Came To Us: Life And Death In Ukraine, joins host Steve Gutterman to discuss.

NATO leaders meet after a Russian strike on a children's hospital underscores the horrors of Russia's war on Ukraine. And the U.S. election looms after votes in Britain and France. Nigel Gould-Davies, the senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, joins host Steve Gutterman to discuss.

What do Western elections and new support deals mean for Ukraine's defense against Russia? And a year later, how is the Wagner mutiny still reverberating across Russia and beyond? Mark Galeotti, author of Downfall: Prigozhin, Putin, And The New Fight For The Future Of Russia, joins host Steve Gutterman discuss.

How has the rebellion by Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenary force changed Russia, and what effects may still be to come? Kirill Shamiev, a fellow at the European Council of Foreign Relations and an expert on Russia and civil-military relations, joins the host to discuss.

How will relaxed U.S. rules for Ukraine's use of American weapons affect Kyiv's defense against Russia's invasion? And can the upcoming Peace Summit in Switzerland make a difference? Olga Oliker, program director for Europe and Central Asia at the Crisis Group, joins host Steve Gutterman to discuss.

Under increasing pressure to untie Kyiv's hands, the United States has changed course and allowed Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied weapons to strike at some targets inside Russia. Ruth Deyermond, senior lecturer in the Department of War Studies at King's College London, joins the host to discuss the significance of the shift.

Dr. Allyson Edwards, a lecturer at Bath Spa University in Britain and an expert on Russian militarism, youth, memory, and patriotic education, joins host Steve Gutterman to discuss the Kremlin's misuse of history in the war in Ukraine and beyond.