Russian Roulette

Maria Snegovaya sits down with Nate Vance — a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who enlisted in the Ukrainian Armed Forces after the 2022 invasion — to discuss Ukrainian and Russian military tactics, life as an infantryman on the front lines, and the impact of Soviet legacies on military culture.

Vance spent three years with the Da Vinci Wolves, seeing action from Bakhmut to Pokrovsk, before leaving in early 2025 when his first cousin JD Vance's rise to the vice presidency made him a potential Russian target.



Mentioned:

Russian Blood and Treasure: The Ballooning Costs of Putin’s War: CSIS Publication by Seth Jones and Riley McCabe





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Max Bergmann sits down with Maria Snegovaya and Jade McGlynn, senior associate (non-resident) with the CSIS Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program and senior research fellow / head of the Ukraine and Russia Program at King's College London, to discuss how Russians have responded to major shocks over the past four years, and whether polling data in Russia truly indicates shifting attitudes toward the war.

Mentioned:

Russian Attitudes Are Shifting as the War’s Effects Come Home, Maria Snegovaya and Jade McGlynn

Feedback? Suggestions? Ideas to help us improve? Email us at erep@csis.org.

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Listen to our sister podcast, covering all things Europe through a Washington lens: CSIS Podcasts | The Eurofile

Investigative journalist Tim Mak, who has been stationed in Ukraine since 2022, joins Max and Maria for a discussion about life in Kyiv, the processes and challenges driving innovation in Ukraine’s dynamic civilian defense combat hubs, and the impact of AI and information integration on the battlefield.

Mentioned:

The Counteroffensive by Tim Mak, Substack

The Arsenal, Tim Mak

Build Back Ukraine, Tim Mak

Feedback? Suggestions? Ideas to help us improve? Email us at erep@csis.org.

If you love Russian Roulette, let us know by subscribing and leaving a review wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen to our sister podcast, covering all things Europe through a Washington lens: CSIS Podcasts | The Eurofile

Max and Maria sit down with Kate Bondar, Senior Fellow at CSIS’s Wadhwani AI Center and expert on autonomous warfare, to discuss the role of drones in combat in Ukraine, including Russia’s innovation tactics and takeaways from the recent increase in strikes on Moscow and Kyiv.  

Mentioned: 


How Russia Is Building a Sovereign Drone Ecosystem for AI-Driven Autonomy | CSIS report by Kate Bondar 


Defining Autonomy: Why Software, Not Drones, Will Decide the Next War | CSIS report by Kate Bondar and Matt Mande 


Russia Is Building Tomorrow’s War Machine | Kate Bondar in The New York Times 

Feedback? Suggestions? Ideas to help us improve? Email us at erep@csis.org. 

If you love Russian Roulette, let us know by subscribing and leaving a review wherever you get your podcasts.  

Listen to our sister podcast, covering all things Europe through a Washington lens: CSIS Podcasts | The Eurofile

Max and Maria sit down with Dr. Nina Khrushcheva, Professor of International Affairs at the New School and one of the world’s leading experts on Russia, to discuss her new Russian‑language book Nikita Khrushchev: Vozhd vne sistemy (“Nikita Khrushchev: An Outlier of the System”) and her experience as one of the few scholars still traveling to and from Russia. As Nikita Khrushchev’s great‑granddaughter and adoptive granddaughter, she offers a rare, personal view of how Russian culture, politics, and society are evolving.

Mentioned: 


No Exit from Stalin | by Nina L. Khrushcheva in Project Syndicate (April 2026) 


Russia’s Descent Into Tyranny: How Four Years of War Have Remade Society | by Nina L. Khrushcheva in Foreign Affairs (Dec. 2025) 


Nikita Khrushchev: Vozhd vne sistemy (Nikita Khrushchev: An Outlier of the System) | Book by Nina L. Khrushcheva 

Feedback? Suggestions? Ideas to help us improve? Email us at erep@csis.org. 

If you love Russian Roulette, let us know by subscribing and leaving a review wherever you get your podcasts.  

Listen to our sister podcast, covering all things Europe through a Washington lens: CSIS Podcasts | The Eurofile