Ukraine and Iran

About this episode

The episode discusses the implications of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the situation in Iran, and related economic issues.

This week we talk about cheap drones, energy resources, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We also discuss the Strait of Hormuz, the war in Iran, and economic asymmetry. Recommended Book: The Age of Extraction by Tim Wu Transcript Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been pretty universally bad for everyone involved, very much including Russia, which going into the fifth year of this conflict, which it started by massing troops on its neighbor’s border and invading, unprovoked, following years of funding asymmetric military incursions in Ukraine’s southeast. Following their full invasion though, Russia has reportedly suffered around 1.25 million casualties, with more than 400,000 of those casualties suffered in 2025, alone. It’s estimated that Russia has also suffered at least 325,000 deaths, and Ukrainian officials reported confirmed kills of more than 30,000 Russian soldiers just in January 2026. As of early 2026, Russian controlled about 20% of Ukraine, down from the height of its occupation, back in March of 2022, when it controlled 26% of the country. And due to a combination of military spending, intense and expansive international sanctions, and damage inflicted by Ukraine…

People in this episode

Host: Colin Wright

Topics covered

• drones
• energy resources
• Russia
• Ukraine
• Iran
• economic asymmetry

Keywords

• drones
• energy resources
• Russia
• Ukraine
• Iran
• economic asymmetry
• casualties
• sanctions

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Age of Extraction

Places: Ukraine, Iran, Russia, Strait of Hormuz

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