Telling the history of a war that’s reshaping the world. In Ep.2: Russia thought they’d take Kyiv in three days. Instead Putin’s invasion has gone down as one of the most infamous fiascos in military history – while Ukraine’s courage and fighting skill has stunned the world. How did Putin get it so wrong? And how did Zelenskyy’s defiance transform the conflict?

Arthur Snell talks to military analysts and historians to unearth the truth about the pivotal first weeks of the war: catastrophe for Russia, glory for Ukraine. Behind the cruelty and monstrous waste a strange question emerges: Did a dysfunctional, shambolic Russia really intend to invade Ukraine at all?

Hear next week’s edition of Doomsday Watch: The Ukraine War immediately when you support the podcast on Patreon: http://www.doomsdaywatch.co.uk

• “How did one of the world’s great military powers manage to make such a mess of things?” – Arthur Snell
• “The Russians didn’t bring much military equipment. What they did bring was parade uniforms to march through Kyiv when it was all over.” – Peter Caddick-Addams
• “The Russian FSB spent vast sums of money preparing for the collapse of the Ukrainian Government, which they confidently expected…” – Arthur Snell
• “ Putin is a very 19th-century figure. He believes that Russia has a birthright to be a great power.“ – Mark Galeotti
• “The experience of any Russian who lived through the 1990s is that reality can disappear around you at any time. People learned to negotiate chaos.“– Peter Pomerantsev
• “The central Russian experience is the Great Patriotic War… They think their moral right to dictate to others comes from 1945.” – Jade McGlynn

Photograph courtesy Ceng Shou Yi/NurPhoto

Incidental music in order of appearance:

• Gustav Mahler’s Symphony Number 5 performed by Jason Weinberger and the WCF Symphony
• Gustav Mahler’s Symphony Number 9 (First Movement) performed by the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra
• ‘Thy Resurrection’ performed by the Music of Kyiv-Pechersk Monastery
• ‘The Blessed I Have Already Chosen’ by Maksym Berezovsky, performed by Kyiv Chamber Choir

Written and presented by Arthur Snell. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Doomsday Watch is a Podmasters production.

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