The Russia Guy Kevin Rothrock

This is to notify listeners of a special installment of The Russia Guy that utilizes “Music + Talk,” Anchor’s Spotify integration, for a music-focused episode featuring music journalist Aleksandr Gorbachev, who selected five recent Russian songs that signify for him the state of affairs and everyday life in Russia now. The episode is available exclusively on Spotify here and on Telegram here.

This episode’s guest is Nikolaus von Twickel, a journalist-turned-analyst who specializes on the war in eastern Ukraine. He is now an editor at the Center for Liberal Modernity in Berlin, and he previously served as a media liaison officer for the OSCE Monitoring Mission in Donetsk. In 2020, he co-authored a book with Thomas de Waal called “Beyond Frozen Conflict: Scenarios for the Separatist Disputes of Eastern Europe,” which looks at the Donbas, Transdniestria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Nagorny Karabakh.

Follow Nikolaus on Twitter!

Timestamps for this episode:


(2:22) Welcome back and introduction
(6:13) Nikolaus explains why he thinks Russia has mobilized its troops outside Ukraine
(8:45) Is it nonsense for Russia to claim that Kyiv is considering an assault on the Donbas?
(15:49) Is Minsk II the only way forward diplomatically in the Donbas or is it now a dead agreement?
(19:36) Is Zelensky still viewed in the West as pragmatic?
(22:17) Can Russia claim to defend the interests of people in the Donbas if the breakaway “republics” are police states?
(28:48) Outro and closing plug for donations!

Music and audio for "The Russia Guy":


Joey Pecoraro, "Russian Dance"
Олег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки”

Support the show at Patreon!

Elena Chernenko, a special correspondent at the newspaper Kommersant who focuses on cybersecurity, non-proliferation, and arms control, joins the show to talk about arriving at foreign-affairs journalism, navigating Russia's contemporary media environment, and staying sane in an increasingly crazy world.

Follow her on Twitter here.

Music and audio for "The Russia Guy":
Joey Pecoraro, "Russian Dance"Олег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки”Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)

On today's episode, Kevin speaks to the scholars behind the new book “Navalny: Putin's Nemesis, Russia's Future?” The three authors: Jan Matti Dollbaum, a postdoctoral researcher at Bremen University, Morvan Lallouet, a PhD candidate at the University of Kent, and Ben Noble, a lecturer in Russian Politics at University College London.

Music and audio for "The Russia Guy":
Joey Pecoraro, "Russian Dance"Олег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки”Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)

Today's show welcomes back Anton Barbashin, a political analyst focusing on Russia and the editorial director at Riddle, for a conversation about the different schools of thought and general drift and direction of foreign-policy expertise inside Russia.

Follow Anton on Twitter here and read Ivan Timofeyev's Valdai Club article here (in Russian), which is cited during the interview.

Music and audio for "The Russia Guy":
Joey Pecoraro, "Russian Dance"Олег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки”Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)

Today's guest is Dr. Sam Greene, the director of the Russia Institute at King’s College London and the co-author of the 2019 book “Putin V. the People: The Perilous Politics of a Divided Russia."

Music and audio for "The Russia Guy":
Олег Анофриев, Бременские музыканты, “Говорят, мы бяки-буки”Счастье вдруг (из х/ф Иван Васильевич меняет профессию)Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/kevinrothrock)