Lisa Gaufman, Assistant Professor of Russian Discourse and Politics at the University of Groningen, discusses Putin's incoherent ideology and the impact of the mobilization on Putin's perceived legitimacy in Russia and future trajectory. 

'There is no coherent ideology... Putin is trying to dress up his land grab into some kind of ideological padding that would resonate with some people who might still support him'

'Observing a lot of the blunders and the atrocities that the Russian army has inflicted on the Ukrainian population has tarnished Russia, even among countries that previously might have supported Putin' 

'By declaring mobilization Putin pretty much destroyed the perception of stability that his legitimacy is built upon...' 

Lisa Graufman Between a Liberal and a Hard Place - Russia and Global Ideological Competition 

Lisa Graufman Security Threats and Public Perception - Digital Russia and the Ukraine Crisis 

Follow Lisa Gaufman on twitter: @lisas_research

For episode updates follow on twitter: @jessicagenauer

Temur Umarov, Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, discusses Kazakhstan, its relations with Russia, and the war in Ukraine - why has Tokayev refused to support Russia's full-scale invasion? How has Russia's mobilization impacted Kazakhstan? How has the war impacted other Central Asian states? 

'What Kazakhstan is doing right now [not supporting the war] is pretty risky. We have already seen that Russia is not happy with that... but Kazakhstan understands that it doesn't really have other options... because staying so closely connected to Russia means that together with Russia you would go to this isolation... it's a one-way ticket... so for Kazakhstan it's even more risky to continue being Russia's close ally' 

'Tokayev is very popular in the society right now... after his tough and clear stance on the war in Ukraine... Inside Kazakhstan this [war] leads to even more will to drift away from Russia' 

Temur Umarov: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace 

Follow Temur on twitter: @TUmarov

For episode updates follow on twitter: @jessicagenauer

Janis Kluge, Senior Researcher at the SWP German Institute for International and Security Affairs, evaluates the impact of sanctions on Russia's economy, EU countries' decoupling from Russian energy imports, and the significance of recent 'leaks' in the Nord Stream pipelines. 

"The effect of sanctions is [often] slower than expected... but that does not mean that it is more benign."

Follow Janis on twitter: @jakluge

For episode updates follow on twitter: @jessicagenauer

Ivan Klyszcz, research fellow at the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute and Doctoral Candidate at the University of Tartu, disucsses Putin's mobilization and the North Caucasus - Dagestan, Chechnya, protests and the possible impacts of mobilization. 

'the mobilization puts tremendous pressure on the entire Putin system that has been ruling Russia for two decades now, because this system is premised on demobilizing people, making them apolitical and disengaged from the way the country is ruled...' 

'my fear is that mobilization in the North Caucasus will create a new cycle of violence in the region' 

Ivan Klysczc on Chechnya's Paradiplomacy 2000-2020: The Emergence and Evolution of External Relations of a Reincorporated Territory 

Ivan Klysczc on Lack of protest in the North Caucasus in 2021 

Follow Ivan on twitter: @IvanUlisesKK

For episode updates follow on twitter: @jessicagenauer

Marnie Howlett, Lecturer in Politics at the University of Oxford, discusses findings from her team's latest public opinion survey research in Ukraine - conductin surveys during a full-scale war, sentiment in Ukraine on territory, sovereignty, Ukrainians categorical opposition to conceding territory or accepting Russian-backed control and implications of this for the war going forward. 

The survey data showed that "Ukrainians are categorically opposed... [to cede territory or accept a Russian-backed government].. they will fight... they are not willing to back down... at any cost they will defend their land".

Janina Dill, Carl Muller-Crepon and Marnie Howlett in The Conversation: "Ukrainians are not willing to give up territory or sovereignty – new survey."

Ilko Kulcheriv Democracy Initiatives Foundation report comparing the survey data from February 2022 to May 2022: How the War Changed the Way Ukrainians Think About Friends, Enemies, and the Country's Strategic Goals 

Follow Marnie on twitter: @marnie_howlett

For episode updates follow on twitter: @jessicagenauer 

Oleksandr Seredyuk, graduate student at Ca'Foscari University of Venice and researcher with the Global Leaders in Unity and Evolvement think tank, discusses growing up in Ukraine, Russian colonialism, the war in Ukraine, and Russian disunity as Ukraine gains on the battelfield.

Global Leaders in Unity and Evolvement: glueinstitute.org

Follow the GLUE institute on twitter: @gloleaders

Follow Oleksandr on twitter: @OSeredyuk

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Maxim Alyukov, Postdoctoral Fellow at the King's College London Russia Institute, and Andrei Semenov, Senior Researcher at the Center for Comparative Historical and Political Studies, discuss their recent report on Russian propaganda setbacks and the war in Ukraine, including a large-scale analysis of the differences between how Russian state media and Russian social media discuss the war in Ukraine.   

Report by Maxim Alyukov, Maria Kunilovskaya and Andrei Semenov: Propaganda Setbacks and Appropriation of Anti-War Language: "Special Military Operation" in Russian Mass Media and Social Networks (February - July 2022)

Maxim Alyukov on Propaganda, Authoritarianism and Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

Maxim Alyukov on Making Sense of the News in an Authoritarian Regime: Russian Television Viewers Reception of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict 

Follow Maxim on twitter: @maxalyukov

Follow Andrei on twitter: @semenaff

For episode updates follow on twitter: @jessicagenauer

Oleksander Kraiev, Director of the North America Program at the Ukrainian Prism Foreign Policy Council, comments on the counteroffensive with a view from Ukraine: restoring Ukraine's 1991 territorial borders, why taking back Crimea is increasingly realistic, Russia's logistical challenges, how Russian media channels are discussing the counteroffensive, and how Ukraine's more modern combat style compares to Russia's soviet-style approach. 

"If previously we were hoping for the plan minimum - to restore the borders as of 24 February - now we are striving for the liberation of the whole Ukrainian territories - and restoration of the borders as of 1991"

"The Russian offensive in February / March was more of a Soviet-style offensive... whereas the Ukrainian counterattack is more of a NATO-style offensive... Russia was not prepared for this style of combat"

Ukrainian Prism Foreign Policy Council 

Follow Oleksandr on twitter: @OKraiev

For episode updates follow on twitter: @jessicagenauer

Oxana Shevel, Associate Professor of Political Science at Tufts University, discusses Ukrainian national identity, diversity, pluralism, changes since 2014 and since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 and optimism for Ukraine's future. 

Russia's annexation of Crimea and incursions into Urkaine in 2014 caused "the part of the country that was the most pro-Russian to get cut off from voting in Ukraine's elections" and at the same time "this open Russian aggression turned more people away from Russia in their attitudes"  from "trying to keep Ukraine in Russia's sphere of influence - Putin has achieved exactly the opposite"

Oxana Shevel on Migration, Refugee Policy and State Building in Postcommunist Europe

Oxana Shevel on The Politics of Dual Citizenship in Post-Soviet States

Oxana Shevel on Facts, the Fog of War and Identity 

Follow Oxana on twitter: @oxanashevel

For episode updates - follow on twitter: @jessicagenauer

Nona Shahnazarian, Senior Research Fellow at the National Academy of Sciences in Yerevan, Armenia, comments on the impact of the war on Yerevan, including an influx of Russian citizens to Yerevan post-24-Feb, and discusses the trauma of loss, how the effects of conflict reverberate beyond the conflict itself. 

"trauma is not only a one-time event but also a process... it's deeply traumatic to be frustrated by the futility of trying to formulate acceptable reasons for the events that exploded [one's] life" 

Nona Shahnazarian with Jelami Sukhashvili and Zhala Banu on the Georgian-Ossettian and Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts

Nona Shahnazarian on Social Transformations in Post-Soviet Nagorno-Karabakh

(Not directly related to the episode) but - as mentioned - constant updates on the counteroffensive - @mriyareport and Denys Davydov

For episode updates follow on twitter: @jessicagenauer