When I sat down with Jake Broe this week — fresh off his first vacation in four years — I knew we’d cover a lot. But what struck me most was his quiet confidence: Russia is going to lose, because Russia always defeats itself.
We talked about Ukraine’s stunning breakthrough with mid-range “Hornet” drones, capable of striking 200–250 km behind the front. Defense Minister Fedorov has declared a “logistics lockdown,” and the results are staggering — a 70% reduction in traffic feeding Crimea. The Kerch Bridge is limited to 1.5-ton loads. There’s no fresh water since the Nova Kakhovka Dam. Fuel, food, and supplies are vanishing.
Jake calls Crimea “the crown jewel of Russia’s entire propaganda campaign.” Lose it, and the psychological dam breaks for ordinary Russians.
We also went deeper — into the impossibility of negotiating with a dictator, the case for Ukraine in NATO (the only two nations producing 10 million drones a year are Russia and Ukraine — one wants to destroy Europe, one wants to defend it), and the Orwellian propaganda machine that has captured millions.
Jake doesn’t sugarcoat the risks: civil war, “loose nukes,” and a West that isn’t ready. But he ends where I do — with hope. “The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice. I’m never giving up.”
Watch the full conversation on Talk4Ukraine. 🇺🇦