Episode Details

Putin desperately needs more drones, yet prominent executives throughout Russia’s drone industry are being arrested. The allegations involve massive state subsidies, unfulfilled production promises, and companies importing Chinese drones or components and presenting them as homegrown Russian innovations. Some executives reportedly made the dangerous mistake of showcasing those supposed innovations directly to Putin.

In this video, I explain why the Kremlin is cracking down at the worst possible moment for its war effort—and what these arrests reveal about corruption inside Russia’s military-industrial system. Putin may be trying to frighten defense contractors into delivering what they promised, but arresting the people responsible for production could also encourage greater secrecy, paralysis, and deception.

I also examine Russia’s dependence on imported technology, its conversion of S-400 launchers for strikes against Ukraine, and the contrast between Russia’s Potemkin-style production claims and Ukraine’s rapid battlefield innovation.

Facts over noise. Context over headlines. Truth over talking points. Principle over partisanship.

#Ukraine #Russia #Putin #UkraineWar #RussianDrones #RussianCorruption #China #DroneWarfare #MilitaryNews #ProfessorGerdes

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