AI Summary
5 min readIn the spring of 2024, smoke obscured Moscow’s skyline as Ukrainian drones set oil refineries ablaze. President Volodymyr Zelensky had just issued a stark warning: “If Ukraine burns, your Moscow will burn too.” The strikes that followed were not random. They were aimed at Crimea, the peninsula Russia seized in 2014, and at refineries deep inside Russia itself. The campaign’s purpose was to bring war to Russians’ doorstep—and to make sure they could not look away.
Why Crimea is the target
Crimea is not just a military objective for Ukraine; it is a symbolic one. As The Economist’s Europe editor Matt Steinglass explains, Vladimir Putin’s desire to seize the peninsula in 2014 was partly military—it hosts the Black Sea fleet’s main naval base—but also spiritual. Russians claim Crimea was the site of an important conversion to Christianity a thousand years ago, and it became a “jewel of the empire” under both the Russian and Soviet empires, famous for its beaches and resorts. Putin sees it as “the spiritual source of the Russian nation.”
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What you'll learn
- 1 (01:28) **Zelensky's Warning and the Escalation of Strikes on Russia** - Ukraine intensifies attacks on Russian territory after Zelensky warns "if Ukraine burns, your Moscow will burn too," targeting oil refineries and the Crimean Peninsula.
- 2 (02:22) **Why Crimea is a Strategic Target** - Matt Steinglass explains Crimea's military and symbolic importance to Russia, and why Ukraine is focusing its strikes there.
- 3 (04:22) **The Psychological Impact on Russians** - Attacking Crimea, a familiar resort area, makes the war more visible to ordinary Russians and undermines state media narratives.
- 4 (05:28) **Voices from Crimea: Tatars and Russian Loyalists** - Reporting from inside Crimea reveals divergent responses to the attacks, from endurance to exhaustion.
- 5 (07:26) **Strategic and Economic Impact of Ukraine's Long-Range Strikes** - Ukraine's attacks on distant Russian targets serve both a psychological and economic purpose, but the economic damage is limited.
- 6 (09:28) **Russian Public Opinion and Elite Sentiment** - While public opinion is hard to gauge, secret focus groups suggest elites want the war to end, creating a potential off-ramp for Putin.
- 7 (12:43) **SpaceX's Record-Breaking IPO and Market Mania** - The company's public listing, valuing it at nearly $2 trillion, signals a manic phase in AI-related investing.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Ukraine is intensifying cross-border attacks in a strategic and psychological effort to make ordinary Russians take notice of the war. We have been collecting reports from the ground on shifting attitudes as occupied Crimea comes under fire. Why the valuation of Elon Musk’s SpaceX affects us all. And celebrating the life of former Fed chair Alan Greenspan.
Guests and host:
- Matt Steinglass, Europe editor
- Josh Roberts, capital markets correspondent
- Ann Wroe, obituaries editor
- Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
Topics covered:
- Ukraine, Crimea, Zelensky, Putin
- SpaceX, Elon Musk, trillionaire, valuation
- Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve, monetary policy
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