Ryan Evans on Drones, Ground War, and Ukraine's Fight for Survival
The Gist
Mike Pesca
4.4 • 3.6K Ratings
🗓️ 10 September 2025
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Ryan Evans, founder of War on the Rocks, breaks down the grinding land war in eastern Ukraine, the tactical role of drones, and how morale and leadership shape the battlefield. He points to Zelensky's missteps, the weapons still needed, and what "winning the ground" really means. Also: Russia sends drones into Poland, forcing Trump into a test of NATO resolve with Putin watching every move. Plus, for Pesca Plus subscribers, a conversation on Gaza.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's Wednesday, September 10th, 2025 from Peachfish Productions. |
| 0:08.4 | It's the gist. |
| 0:09.4 | I'm Mike Peska. |
| 0:10.8 | Another day, another military incursion over international borders. |
| 0:14.7 | Yesterday, Russia sent 19 drones to Poland. |
| 0:18.1 | Poland intercepted three or possibly four of them a much worse ratio than Ukraine, |
| 0:23.7 | but there's a reason. Poland is not currently at war, or are they, are we? That is the question |
| 0:31.5 | I believe Vladimir Putin wants to hang in the air. Putin's provoking Donald Trump in the West |
| 0:37.4 | to suss out his reaction |
| 0:38.9 | and his intentions. Every part of Trump's decision tree will have a Putin counter reaction. So here's |
| 0:45.8 | one. If Donald Trump downplays the incursion as he might, it is, after all, hard for a guy like |
| 0:52.3 | Donald Trump to look ahead enough to see the second and third order of facts of standing up for an ally if the transactional benefits aren't immediately staring him in the face. |
| 1:01.4 | Putin would love this. |
| 1:02.7 | It would open the door for more aggression and shake the NATO alliance. |
| 1:06.9 | Two, if Donald Trump deals with Putin one-on-one, interpersonally, this is how he likes to handle |
| 1:12.3 | things, he talks things through with a rival. Putin would love that too. It gives Putin a means |
| 1:18.0 | to get Trump's attention in the future. Also, promising, I won't do it again, what he shouldn't |
| 1:23.8 | have done in the first place, will earn him points and rewards he shouldn't have been in a position to earn. |
| 1:29.3 | Three, if Trump feels chastened and hemmed in by establishment graybeards telling him what he has to do, |
| 1:36.5 | which is to respond forcefully and unambiguously, he just might revolt. |
| 1:40.2 | He does this all the time. |
| 1:41.8 | He doesn't like being told what to do. |
... |
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