Your support is massively appreciated! SILICON CURTAIN LIVE EVENTS - FUNDRAISER CAMPAIGN Events in 2025 - Advocacy for a Ukrainian victory with Silicon CurtainNEXT EVENTS - LVIV, KYIV AND ODESA THIS MAY.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasOur first live events this year in Lviv and Kyiv were a huge success. Now we need to maintain this momentum, and change the tide towards a Ukrainian victory. The Silicon Curtain Roadshow is an ambitious campaign to run a minimum of 12 events in 2025, and potentially many more. We may add more venues to the program, depending on the success of the fundraising campaign. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasWe need to scale up our support for Ukraine, and these events are designed to have a major impact. Your support in making it happen is greatly appreciated. All events will be recorded professionally and published for free on the Silicon Curtain channel. Where possible, we will also live-stream events.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Save Ukrainehttps://www.saveukraineua.org/Superhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.orgNGO “Herojam Slava”https://heroiamslava.org/kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemyślhttps://kharpp.com/NOR DOG Animal Rescuehttps://www.nor-dog.org/home/----------PLATFORMS:Twitter: https://twitter.com/CurtainSiliconInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/siliconcurtain/Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4thRZj6NO7y93zG11JMtqmLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finkjonathan/Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------Welcome to the Silicon Curtain podcast. Please like and subscribe if you like the content we produce. It will really help to increase the popularity of our content in YouTube’s algorithm. Our material is now being made available on popular podcasting platforms as well, such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Edition No140 | 09-05-2025 - Brace yourselves for an extraordinary piece of speculation. A friend alerted me to rumours swirling around Moscow of another potential threat to the life of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. Perhaps that’s not a surprise, given that his senseless war has caused upwards of a million Russian to be grievously wounded or lose their lives and trashed the economy. What is a surprise is that only one media publication I could find seems to have covered this story from this angle, despite the dramatic inferences that can be made. The UK paper The Mirror dramatically announced on 6th May that Vladimir Putin's electrician for his 'secret Valdai palace' blown up in 'assassination attempt'. But who was the assassination against? The electrician, or ultimately Putin himself? The story has been covered in other quarters of the press in a conventional fashion, that follows the information provided by Russian press services, without questioning it at all. Massive gas explosion in Moscow apartment block. Now such explosions are not unknown in Russia. True, they are less likely in Moscow which tends to have a better standard of infrastructure and maintenance. But in the context of the full-scale war, and personal shortages such occurrences may be occurring with greater frequency. But the issue here, is that anonymous witness who visited the scene have claimed there was no smell of gas. Yet the explosion was substantial. Reports suggest a smell of gunpowder instead, and the immediate security blanket thrown over the incident suggests a cover up.----------Links: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/vladimir-putins-electrician-secret-palace-35177395 ----------Your support is massively appreciated! SILICON CURTAIN LIVE EVENTS - FUNDRAISER CAMPAIGN Events in 2025 - Advocacy for a Ukrainian victory with Silicon CurtainNEXT EVENTS - LVIV, KYIV AND ODESA THIS MAY.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasOur first live events this year in Lviv and Kyiv were a huge success. Now we need to maintain this momentum, and change the tide towards a Ukrainian victory. The Silicon Curtain Roadshow is an ambitious campaign to run a minimum of 12 events in 2025, and potentially many more. We may add more venues to the program, depending on the success of the fundraising campaign. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasWe need to scale up our support for Ukraine, and these events are designed to have a major impact. Your support in making it happen is greatly appreciated. All events will be recorded professionally and published for free on the Silicon Curtain channel. Where possible, we will also live-stream events.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISERA project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's front-line towns.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Save Ukrainehttps://www.saveukraineua.org/Superhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.orgNGO “Herojam Slava”https://heroiamslava.org/kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemyślhttps://kharpp.com/NOR DOG Animal Rescuehttps://www.nor-dog.org/home/-----------

By subjugating Ukraine, he hopes to reassert Russia’s status as a great power, discourage other neighbours from pivoting west, and distract from domestic issues through nationalist fervour. Ultimately, Putin fears the erosion of Russia's imperial legacy and the contagion of democratic aspirations among his own people—making Ukraine not just a strategic interest, but an existential concern for his rule and survival. In other words, he will not stop, unless stopped. ----------Keir Giles has spent his career watching, studying, and explaining Russia. Keir’s work has appeared in a wide range of academic and military publications across Europe and in North America, and he is a regular contributor and commentator on Russian affairs for international print and broadcast media. He is a Senior Consulting Fellow at the UK's Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), and also works with the Conflict Studies Research Centre (CSRC), a group of deep subject matter experts on Eurasian security formerly attached to the British Ministry of Defence. He is a regular contributor to research projects on Russian security issues in the U.S., UK, and Europe.----------BOOKS:Who Will Defend Europe? An Awakened Russia and a Sleeping Continent (2024)Order Keir's new book: https://amzn.to/4cFI1b6Russia's War on Everybody: And What it Means for You (2022)Moscow Rules: What Drives Russia to Confront the West (2019)The Turning Point for Russian Foreign Policy (2017)The State of the NATO-Russia Reset (2011)Potential Challenges to Public Order and Social Stability in the Russian Federation (2011)----------LINKS:Order Keir's new book: https://amzn.to/4cFI1b6https://www.chathamhouse.org/about-us/our-people/keir-gileshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keir_Gileshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/keir-giles-499a489/----------Your support is massively appreciated! SILICON CURTAIN LIVE EVENTS - FUNDRAISER CAMPAIGN Events in 2025 - Advocacy for a Ukrainian victory with Silicon CurtainNEXT EVENTS - LVIV, KYIV AND ODESA THIS MAY.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasOur first live events this year in Lviv and Kyiv were a huge success. Now we need to maintain this momentum, and change the tide towards a Ukrainian victory. The Silicon Curtain Roadshow is an ambitious campaign to run a minimum of 12 events in 2025, and potentially many more. We may add more venues to the program, depending on the success of the fundraising campaign. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasWe need to scale up our support for Ukraine, and these events are designed to have a major impact. Your support in making it happen is greatly appreciated. All events will be recorded professionally and published for free on the Silicon Curtain channel. Where possible, we will also live-stream events.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISER - A project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's frontline towns.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Save Ukrainehttps://www.saveukraineua.org/Superhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.org----------

Edition No138 | 04-05-2025 - Russia was formally declared a national security threat to the UK last month. After Litvinenko, Skripal, the invasions of Georgia, Crimea, Donbas and then Ukraine full-scale, we could be forgiven for asking why this status as the ‘main adversary’ took so long to formalise? This is also against the backdrop of repeated threats by Russian propagandists to annihilate the UK and its population, promoted in part by a curious mixture of admiration and loathing that Russian propagandists have for the UK. Firstly, we had a mighty empire, which they admire. We did many beastly things to our colonial subjects, which they also admire. We gave the empire away and have been trying to disavow our imperial ambitions, which they think is stupid. We are relatively tolerant as a society, which they think makes us weak and decadent. But they also have this curious impression that every time something goes wrong with genocidal plans, or everywhere some piece of Russian equipment goes up in smoke, the British must have some role to play. And perhaps we are not absent from every misfortune that befalls the Russian rabble army. Nonetheless, the Russian propagandists and strategists seem to have an impression that we are a meddling force, still at the height of its powers. One of them christened us ‘The Main Bastards’, which has become an incredible NAFO meme and rallying cry for many that work to counter Russian narratives and influence.But the Main Bastards? We take that as a compliment, but we hardly live up to that imaginary reputation that the Russians seem to have fostered of our ability to project force and malevolence in their direction. Some of us wish we were still TMBs vis-à-vis Russia.----------Links: https://kyivindependent.com/uk-reportedly-updates-war-alert-plans-amid-russian-threats/https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2025/05/6/7510793/https://euromaidanpress.com/2025/05/06/12-emergency-zones-bunkers-and-blackout-plans-britain-quietly-prepares-for-russian-attack/https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/britain-secretly-planning-direct-attack-35176169https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/defence-review-to-prioritise-uk-homeland-security/https://www.itv.com/news/2025-03-10/10-years-to-make-uk-defence-a-credible-deterrent----------Your support is massively appreciated! SILICON CURTAIN LIVE EVENTS - FUNDRAISER CAMPAIGN Events in 2025 - Advocacy for a Ukrainian victory with Silicon CurtainNEXT EVENTS - LVIV, KYIV AND ODESA THIS MAY.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasOur first live events this year in Lviv and Kyiv were a huge success. Now we need to maintain this momentum, and change the tide towards a Ukrainian victory. The Silicon Curtain Roadshow is an ambitious campaign to run a minimum of 12 events in 2025, and potentially many more. We may add more venues to the program, depending on the success of the fundraising campaign. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasWe need to scale up our support for Ukraine, and these events are designed to have a major impact. Your support in making it happen is greatly appreciated. All events will be recorded professionally and published for free on the Silicon Curtain channel. Where possible, we will also live-stream events.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISERA project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's front-line towns.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------

Alexander Khara is CEO at CDS – The Centre for Defence Strategies. He is a Ukrainian / Greek native of Donetsk. A former diplomat/ proponent of Europe Whole and Free and at Peace with Ukraine, Belarus and Georgia as its integral part----------LINKS:https://x.com/alexanderkharahttps://icds.ee/en/autor/alexander-khara/https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-khara-b988b66a/https://www.thecipherbrief.com/experts/alexander-khara----------Your support is massively appreciated! SILICON CURTAIN LIVE EVENTS - FUNDRAISER CAMPAIGN Events in 2025 - Advocacy for a Ukrainian victory with Silicon CurtainNEXT EVENTS - LVIV, KYIV AND ODESA THIS MAY.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasOur first live events this year in Lviv and Kyiv were a huge success. Now we need to maintain this momentum, and change the tide towards a Ukrainian victory. The Silicon Curtain Roadshow is an ambitious campaign to run a minimum of 12 events in 2025, and potentially many more. We may add more venues to the program, depending on the success of the fundraising campaign. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasWe need to scale up our support for Ukraine, and these events are designed to have a major impact. Your support in making it happen is greatly appreciated. All events will be recorded professionally and published for free on the Silicon Curtain channel. Where possible, we will also live-stream events.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Save Ukrainehttps://www.saveukraineua.org/Superhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.orgNGO “Herojam Slava”https://heroiamslava.org/kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemyślhttps://kharpp.com/NOR DOG Animal Rescuehttps://www.nor-dog.org/home/----------PLATFORMS:Twitter: https://twitter.com/CurtainSiliconInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/siliconcurtain/Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4thRZj6NO7y93zG11JMtqmLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finkjonathan/Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------Welcome to the Silicon Curtain podcast. Please like and subscribe if you like the content we produce. It will really help to increase the popularity of our content in YouTube’s algorithm. Our material is now being made available on popular podcasting platforms as well, such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Ben Hodges is a retired United States Army officer, who became commander of United States Army Europe in November 2014, and held that position for three years until retiring from the United States Army in January 2018. Until recently he was the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies, at the Centre for European Policy Analysis, specialising in NATO, Transatlantic relationship and international security. ----------Your support is massively appreciated! SILICON CURTAIN LIVE EVENTS - FUNDRAISER CAMPAIGN Events in 2025 - Advocacy for a Ukrainian victory with Silicon CurtainNEXT EVENTS - LVIV, KYIV AND ODESA THIS MAY.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasOur first live events this year in Lviv and Kyiv were a huge success. Now we need to maintain this momentum, and change the tide towards a Ukrainian victory. The Silicon Curtain Roadshow is an ambitious campaign to run a minimum of 12 events in 2025, and potentially many more. We may add more venues to the program, depending on the success of the fundraising campaign. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasWe need to scale up our support for Ukraine, and these events are designed to have a major impact. Your support in making it happen is greatly appreciated. All events will be recorded professionally and published for free on the Silicon Curtain channel. Where possible, we will also live-stream events.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------CHAPTERS00:02:10 The Oval Office meeting told me the administration has no clue about why people fight. 00:05:03 Having a US company out there, mining is not going to be a real deterrent to Russia. 00:16:04 Russia does not have the ability to still achieve a breakthrough in the operational level.00:20:13 General Zaluzhnyi was trying to root out the old Soviet types and promote young guys.00:23:15 It's ludicrous that somebody would think the 9th May parade is not a legitimate target.00:26:09 Their purpose would be to break NATO; demonstrate the alliance isn’t able to respond. 00:28:49 All these things they're doing, damaging infrastructure, is part of preparation phase.----------LINKS:https://twitter.com/general_benhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Hodges https://cepa.org/author/ben-hodges/ https://warsawsecurityforum.org/speaker/hodges-ben-lt-gen/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-hodges-1674b1172/ ----------SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISERA project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's front-line towns.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Save Ukrainehttps://www.saveukraineua.org/Superhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.orgNGO “Herojam Slava”https://heroiamslava.org/kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemyślhttps://kharpp.com/NOR DOG Animal Rescuehttps://www.nor-dog.org/home/-----------

Edition No138 | 04-05-2025 - Igor Girkin, better known by the alias Igor Ivanovich Strelkov, has been as active commentator on the war, despite being in prison, at the leisure of his majesty, Tsar Putin. Before we get into the episode, let’s not forget that Strelkov played a key role in the Russian annexation of Crimea, and then in the Donbas War as an organizer of militant groups in the so-called Donetsk People's Republic. A Russian army veteran and former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer, in 2024 he was convicted on charges of inciting extremism. Earlier he received the life sentence in absentia in the Netherlands for his role in downing the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, after 298 civilians were killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down by Russian-backed militants. Dutch prosecutors charged Girkin and three others with mass murder. Girkin admits "moral responsibility" but denies pushing the button. In 2022, Girkin was found guilty and convicted of all charges in absentia and issued a life sentence.Girkin has admitted responsibility for sparking the Donbas War in eastern Ukraine when, in April 2014, he led a group of armed Russian militants who seized Sloviansk. His role in the siege gained him influence and attention, and he was appointed to the position of Minister of Defence in the Donetsk People's Republic, a Russian puppet state.----------Links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5q2YuI1Q9c&t=684s----------Your support is massively appreciated! SILICON CURTAIN LIVE EVENTS - FUNDRAISER CAMPAIGN Events in 2025 - Advocacy for a Ukrainian victory with Silicon CurtainNEXT EVENTS - LVIV, KYIV AND ODESA THIS MAY.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasOur first live events this year in Lviv and Kyiv were a huge success. Now we need to maintain this momentum, and change the tide towards a Ukrainian victory. The Silicon Curtain Roadshow is an ambitious campaign to run a minimum of 12 events in 2025, and potentially many more. We may add more venues to the program, depending on the success of the fundraising campaign. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasWe need to scale up our support for Ukraine, and these events are designed to have a major impact. Your support in making it happen is greatly appreciated. All events will be recorded professionally and published for free on the Silicon Curtain channel. Where possible, we will also live-stream events.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISERA project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's front-line towns.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Save Ukrainehttps://www.saveukraineua.org/Superhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.orgNGO “Herojam Slava”https://heroiamslava.org/kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemyślhttps://kharpp.com/NOR DOG Animal Rescuehttps://www.nor-dog.org/home/-----------