The war in Ukraine is back in the headlines as a peace agreement appears increasingly probable - though with major concessions to Russia. So as a Christmas present to our listeners, we’ve brought this episode from August out from behind the paywall.

In it, Thomas speaks with his old university friend Jakub - a former Slovak Army officer who volunteered to fight in Ukraine - about the lived reality of modern warfare, from trench fighting to FPV strike drones. Drawing on nearly eighteen months at the front, Jakub offers an unvarnished account of combat, morale, fear, boredom, and survival - and challenges many popular assumptions about how this war is actually being fought.

Thomas and Jakub discuss:

Why Jakub left academia to fight in Ukraine

Life as a foreign volunteer inside a regular Ukrainian infantry battalion

The psychological reality of trench warfare

How artillery, drones, and attrition have reshaped the battlefield

The limits of NATO doctrine when confronted with peer warfare

What this war suggests about the future of European security

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Conflicted is a Message Heard production.

Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren.

This episode was produced and edited by Thomas Small.

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