Photo: AP

EA-Times Radio Special: Killing of Navalny Highlights Failure of Putin’s “Ukraine Gamble”

UPDATES: Alexei Navalny Is Dead, Possibly Assassinated, In A Russian Prison

In an 8-minute interview with Australia’s ABC News, I link Vladimir Putin’s repression at home — the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny; the arrest of another US citizen, Ksenia Karelina; the disqualification of Presidential candidates — with his failed invasion and repression in Ukraine.

Watch The Discussion — Thursday in “Episodes” Section — From 10:30

Within Russia there are no “rules of the game” which cannot be broken. Those “rules of the game” have long been suspended by Russia in Ukraine.

For all those activists who continue to defend the Kremlin, this isn’t NATO, this isn’t the West committing these abuses in Ukraine and in Russia.

This is Vladimir Putin.

I explain how Putin’s moves betray concern and uncertainty. I put into wider context the “success” of the four-month on Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, amid Ukrainian success in attacks beyond the frontline and the defeat of Putin’s attempt to conquer the country.

I get beyond superficial headlines to explain how, in a marathon rather than a sprint, the significance lies in Ukraine’s path to membership in the European Union and an expanded NATO.

And I explain how those superficial headlines play into Putin’s last hope: his “information war” to break international support for Kyiv.

If you look just at Avdiivka and the frontline, you’re playing into a Russian “information warfare”.

Vladimir Putin has failed to take Kyiv. He has failed to conquer Ukraine. He has failed to replace the Zelenskiy Government. So his last play is to break international support for Ukraine by saying, “You’re wasting your money. Sooner or later, we’re going to defeat them.”