Image credit: Melody Cook/CNAS

February 23, 2022

Flash Release: Rob Lee Reacts to Ongoing Russian Military Developments

By Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Jim Townsend and Rob Lee

Earlier this week, Russia escalated its ongoing aggression toward Ukraine by announcing that it would formally recognize the independence of the separatist territories of Donetsk and Luhansk, a decision that the Kremlin has backed up by deploying troops to both Eastern Ukrainian regions. In preparation for the possibility of a wider conflict, more serious sanctions have been threatened and additional troops have been moved to NATO’s eastern flank. Yet it remains unclear what Vladimir Putin’s next move will be—while many believe that he is poised to go further and launch a massive military attack against Ukraine, some have argued that he may stop short of a full-blown war. Rob Lee joins Andrea Kendall Taylor and Jim Townsend to assess the events and implications of this major global crisis.

Rob Lee is a Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Eurasia Program, as well as a PhD student researching Russian defense policy at King’s College London’s War Studies Department. He is a former Marine infantry officer, Alfa Fellow, and visiting fellow at the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST), a Russian think tank focused on defense policy.

  • Podcast
    • March 27, 2023
    Russian President Putin Plans to Move Tactical Nuclear Weapons into Belarus

    Here & Now's Robin Young speaks with Jeffrey Edmonds with the Center for New American Security about Russia's plan to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which shares...

    By Jeffrey Edmonds

  • Commentary
    • Foreign Affairs
    • March 23, 2023
    Putin’s Forever War

    More than a year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a grim reality has settled in: the war will not end soon. Despite the heavy fighting in and around the eastern city of Bak...

    By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Erica Frantz

  • Video
    • March 20, 2023
    China's leader Xi Jinping arrives in Moscow

    Andrea Kendall-Taylor appears in Reuters to discuss the broader implications of Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow, and the future of the Sino-Russian relationship. Watch the full ...

    By Andrea Kendall-Taylor

  • Podcast
    • March 17, 2023
    The Battle of Bakhmut

    In this episode of MWI’s Urban Warfare Project Podcast, John Spencer is joined again by Michael Kofman, director of the Russia Studies Program at CNA. He researches Russia and...

    By Michael Kofman

View All Reports View All Articles & Multimedia