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This Is Not A Drill with Gavin Esler

The Ukraine War Ep. 4: Europe in Shock

This Is Not A Drill with Gavin Esler

Podmasters

News, Society & Culture, Politics

4.91.6K Ratings

🗓️ 17 May 2023

⏱️ 51 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Telling the history of the war that’s reshaping the world. In Ep.4: Putin planned to break Europe’s resolve under the twin effects of his assault on Ukraine and his energy war. Instead he bound NATO and the EU together more tightly than ever. This is the story of how Putin’s recklessness created the ‘Zeitenwende’, the turning point in European history where German illusions about Russian cooperation faded away… and Ukraine became a new bulwark of freedom.  Hear next week’s edition of Doomsday Watch: The Ukraine War immediately when you support the podcast on Patreon: http://www.doomsdaywatch.co.uk • “Putin was sending a message to the West. You guys aren’t serious. You failed in Iraq. You were kicked out of Afghanistan. Are you really going ot do anything to stop me?” – Arthur Snell • “Europe is now trying to focus its geopolitical muscle against Russia… Ukraine will be a shield against Russia into the future.” – Liana Fix • “Zelenskyy may be the perfect figurehead… Stoic, committed, brave, taciturn at times, but inspirational.” – Arthur Snell • “I worry that, if the Russians win, what does Putin do next? What if he looks at other ‘historic Russian lands’?” – Steven Pifer Photograph courtesy Alexey Furman Incidental music in order of appearance: ‘The Blessed I Have Already Chosen’ by Maksym Berezovsky, performed by Kyiv Chamber Choir Gustav Mahler’s Symphony Number 5, performed by Jason Weinberger and the WCF Symphony Gustav Mahler’s Symphony Number 9 (First Movement) performed by the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra Written and presented by Arthur Snell. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Doomsday Watch is a Podmasters production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

I'm Arthur Snell. In the first three episodes of this series, we looked at the background

0:15.7

to this conflict. This war that began in 2014 in Crimea and the Donbass.

0:22.8

For putting the annexation of Crimea really was something where he felt he had outfoxed the West.

0:30.4

And then those desperate days last February as the Russians nearly took key.

0:35.1

I think people don't necessarily appreciate how close run it was in the first few hours

0:41.2

and how fortunate we were.

0:43.7

And how Russia wrote terror upon the Ukrainian population.

0:49.1

We saw that our own eyes how the military jets were bombed in the hospitals.

0:55.9

We saw one own eyes how the Russian tanks were all on the street and shooting directly to the residential buildings.

1:06.8

And why are they doing this? Why is it happening?

1:11.3

In those first days last February, the Ukrainians showed that they were going to stand and fight.

1:17.2

I need ammunition, not a ride. President Zelensky said after being offered an evacuation by the Americans.

1:24.4

And so began something almost as unexpected as Ukraine's resilience against the Russian onslaught.

1:31.0

An unprecedented moment of unity and purpose across much of the democratic world determined to support Ukraine in its hour of need.

1:41.9

When this war, this invasion started and I saw news and then all the videos started coming.

1:51.6

Seen this all and also see having this past experiences from Georgia.

1:57.0

My soul, my mind, everything, all the values and morals really pushed me to the point that you got to go.

2:08.5

In Ukraine, actually, we had not far from Bachmuth, a missile had a building and then we ran there and was a residential building.

2:20.4

So at one point a guy was speaking with us from the rubble, he was buried.

2:25.7

So we were trying to dig all the rubble and free the rubble and free him.

2:30.6

And suddenly suddenly in one second the rubble just went down and he stopped talking to us.

2:37.6

So another four hours until the morning we kept digging and then they found his body eventually because he just died in our hands, so to say.

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