The Eastern Front welcomes back special guest and friend, Fred Kagan, Senior Fellow and Director of the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute, for another update on the war in Ukraine and discussion, specifically, on the military balance in Ukraine. Fred explains how the Russian military's short-lived "operational pause" reveals many of its weaknesses. Yet he underscores that we should not expect the war to end until Vladimir Putin has conquered Ukraine; Putin is replaced by a Russian president with different ideology; or the West sufficiently supports Ukraine to where it can end the war on its terms. Fred also dives into details about both the equipment and composition of Russian forces and the state of current Russian capabilities; the role of Western weapons in Ukrainian defenses; and he thinks through what the anticipated Ukrainian counter offensive might look like.

Show notes: https://www.criticalthreats.org/analysis/ukraine-conflict-updates