Check out my book "What Caused the Russia-Ukraine War": https://amzn.to/3HY5aqW. You can also read it for free by signing up for a Kindle Unlimited trial at https://amzn.to/3QMsBr8. (These are affiliate links, meaning I earn a commission when you make a transaction through them. This means that even if you read for free, you are still supporting the channel.)

Why did Russia miscalculate so badly in its invasion of Ukraine? The answer is more than two decades in the making. Putin's Persistent and intentional decay of Russia's institutions made it impossible for Russia's intelligence community and military to provide quality information to him. Facing the uncertainty---and wagering that it would take a true disaster for it have a deep effect on him personally---Putin pulled the trigger.

0:00 Introduction
2:01 Putin's Rise to Power
4:54 The FSB Sets the Stage
6:11 How Would the West Respond?
10:20 How Resolved Was Ukraine?
13:59 The Military's Optimism
19:35 Pravda (The Truth)
25:27 Putin Pulls the Trigger
26:32 Russian Success Was Plausible
26:55 Bad Luck
29:05 Lack of Blowback
30:43 The COVID Pandemic
31:24 Putin's Illness
35:19 Easter Eggs

The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.

Media licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

From President.gov.ua:
https://www.president.gov.ua/en/photo...

From Government of Ukraine:
https://tinyurl.com/bdhajpmt
https://tinyurl.com/2sefhpf9

From Kremlin.ru:
http://20.kremlin.ru/en/2000
http://putin.kremlin.ru/bio/page-3
http://kremlin.ru/events/president/ne...
http://kremlin.ru/events/president/ne...
http://kremlin.ru/catalog/countries/U...
http://kremlin.ru/news/20604
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From Duma.gov.ru:
http://duma.gov.ru/multimedia/photo/7...

From government.ru:
http://services.government.ru/press/p...

Media licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

From RIA Novosti:
http://visualrian.ru/ru/site/gallery/...
http://visualrian.ru/ru/site/gallery/...
http://visualrian.ru/ru/site/gallery/...
http://visualrian.ru/ru/site/gallery/...

Media licensed under CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

From US Secretary of Defense:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/secdef/...

From Minister-President Rutte:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/5113519...

From European People's Party:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/4519883...

Media licensed under GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Co...

From Dmitriy Pichugin:
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Russia...