A conversation with Professor Glenn Diesen: Russia must restore its deterrence to survive

Professor Diesen and I have patched up relations, as you will understand from the opening minutes, and I believe we have had a discussion this morning which the Community will find particularly valuable. I am particularly proud of my explanation for why the whole question of Russia winning or losing has generated so much passion, fury and venom among colleagues.

 At the same time, the translators of my interviews into Russian for the rutube will be wondering about the advisability of putting up on the internet my recommendation to the Kremlin that they fire General Gerasimov and his immediate circle and change their strategy to ‘escalate to de-escalate’ if there is to be any chance for the war to end soon and on Russian terms, rather than in a Pyrrhic victory.  On the other hand, the same translators and their friends in the Kremlin will be delighted by my denunciation of the Ukrainian claims to have taken the initiative and my insistence that the drones which are striking deep into the Russian heartland are NATO supplied and NATO programmed rather than proofs of Ukrainian military genius.

©Gilbert Doctorow, 2026

‘Judging Freedom’ edition of 21 July 2026: How much longer can Russia fight?

It was very enjoyable to be back with Judge Napolitano today following his return from vacation. Our chat covered a great many of the questions surrounding the state of the Russia-Ukraine war today: whether the Russians are truly winning on the ground or are being pushed back and losing territory as out-going Ukrainian commander General Syrsky claims; whether the drone attacks by Ukraine are truly Ukrainian or are indeed largely NATO attacks, since the most sophisticated long range drones are surely manufactured in Germany, the UK and elsewhere and targeting is done using Western military intelligence; whether Russia is poised to attack Western Europe or not; and much more.   I also discussed the recent Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted teleconference on the Ukrainian war crimes being committed in the Kherson oblast and why/how the organizers failed to consider how the testimony they were presenting could be seen as proof that Russia’s possible military victory on the ground will be a Pyrrhic victory.

©Gilbert Doctorow. 2026