Is Russia’s fiasco in Ukraine just Putin’s monstrous folly? Or does the Russian military have even bigger problems? Arthur Snell hears from KCL Lecturer for German and European Studies Alexander Clarkson about how a flawed image of Ukraine as a failed state sowed the seeds of Russia’s embarrassment. And how, when Putin invaded Crimea in 2014, he inadvertently began training a generation of fighters who do not know how to give up. Sound quality warning! This time Arthur records from a car park in Swindon. Never let it be said that we don’t go the extra mile for the Doomsday Watch faithful. We're putting out irregular war bulletins covering different aspects of the Ukraine crisis. Help our work, and shape the next full series of Doomsday Watch, by supporting us on Patreon. Resources to help the Ukrainian people can be found here: https://ukrainewar.carrd.co/ “How are you going to occupy a country of 21m people with a force of 150,000 troops? It’s La La Land.” “The Russians talked themselves into a position where they had to attack something.” “What really matters is, when everything goes to hell around you, can you stay calm? Some 400,000 Ukrainians have crossed that psychological threshold. Whatever hits them, they can do what has to be done." “Everything the Russians have done is just very… weird. Everything they do triggers what they’re trying to prevent.” “If Ukraine survives, very mid-sized states will conclude that, you know what? We can fuck the Americans or the Chinese.” DOOMSDAY WATCH was written and presented by Arthur Snell, and produced by Robin Leeburn with Jacob Archbold. Theme tune and original music by Paul Hartnoll. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. DOOMSDAY WATCH is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices