The Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine on February 24th, 2022 surprised many around the world for its speed and scale, making it the largest military operation in Europe since World War II.
Western media was quick to condemn the action as a flagrant act of aggression on the part of Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin, while news sources in other parts of the world - particularly China, India, and Africa - have been more sanguine, viewing this as a defensive response to NATO encroachment on Russia’s border.
Dr. Matthew Raphael Johnson, Russian scholar and long time author on the political economy of the region, joins us tonight to help us disentangle the truth from the propaganda.
Because Dr. Johnson has received numerous interview requests and could only speak with us for one hour, we will be following this episode in the coming days with a brief ‘After Dark’ bonus show focusing on the potential long-reaching supply chain implications of this conflict.
