Russian Roulette

Since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, Western policymakers have faced a recurring dilemma: how much escalation risk is acceptable in pursuit of a Ukrainian battlefield advantage?

Samuel Charap and Mick Ryan join Maria Snegovaya to discuss whether Western fears of escalation systematically delayed critical military aid, how to weigh battlefield support against diplomatic engagement, and what victory for Ukraine might actually look like — including how different U.S. administrations have approached each of these questions.

Guests:

Dr. Samuel Charap | Distinguished Chair in Russia and Eurasia Policy, Senior Political Scientist, RAND

Major General (ret.) Mick Ryan | Senior Fellow in Military Studies, Lowy Institute

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 are joined by journalist and author Julia Ioffe to discuss her recent book, Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy.

Motherland is available now from HarperCollins Publishers.

Max Bergmann is joined by Hanna Notte and Natasha Hall to map the escalation risks, assess Russia's shifting military and diplomatic footprint in Syria under the new government of Ahmed al-Sharaa, and parse what a surprise CIA visit to Moscow reveals about where this global realignment is heading. Along the way, they examine Ukrainian strikes on Iranian vessels, allegations that Moscow is feeding Tehran intelligence on U.S. positions, and what a deepening Russia-Iran economic partnership means for the wider region.

Guests:

Hanna Notte | director of the Eurasia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies; senior associate (non-resident), Europe, Russia, and Eurasia program, CSIS

Natasha Hall | senior advocate for the Middle East, Refugees International; Associate Fellow, Middle East and North Africa Program, Chatham House; senior associate (non-resident), Middle East Program, CSIS

Mentioned:

Resilience Through Linkage: Russia, Iran, and Aspirations for North–South Trade – CSIS Report by Maria Snegovaya, Tina Dolbaia, and Nicholas Fenton

We Shall Outlast Them: Putin's Global Campaign to Defeat the West – Book by Hanna Notte

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

Maria Snegovaya sits down with Pavel Talankin –– a Russian schoolteacher who became an unlikely lens into the Russian propaganda machine. His documentary, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, captured two years of footage from inside a provincial Russian classroom as Putin's war transformed his students into instruments of the state. The film won the 2026 Oscar for Best Documentary. Talankin joins Russian Roulette's first episode recorded in Russian to discuss his inspiration, experience making the film, and what his story reveals about the depths of propaganda in Russia's education system today.

NOTE: This episode is in Russian. An English version of the audio (created using AI dubbing software and reviewed by native speakers) is available in the Russian Roulette podcast feed.

Mentioned:

Mr. Nobody Against Putin | Documentary film directed by David Borenstein and Pavel Talankin

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

NOTE: This interview was conducted in Russian. The English audio was created with AI dubbing software and reviewed by native speakers of both languages for accuracy.

Maria Snegovaya sits down with Pavel Talankin –– a Russian schoolteacher who became an unlikely lens into the Russian propaganda machine. His documentary, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, captured two years of footage from inside a provincial Russian classroom as Putin's war transformed his students into instruments of the state. The film won the 2026 Oscar for Best Documentary. Talankin joins Russian Roulette to discuss what he witnessed, the process of making the film, and what his story reveals about the depths of propaganda in Russia's education system today.

Mentioned:

Mr. Nobody Against Putin | Documentary film directed by David Borenstein and Pavel Talankin

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