The Daily Show: Ears Edition - TDS Time Machine | War In Ukraine - A Look Back

Episode Date: February 20, 2026

As we approach the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, take a look back at The Daily Show's early coverage with Trevor Noah. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Welcome to The Daily Show. I'm Trevor Noah. Let's jump straight into the big news, which is the only one that anybody's talking about. It's Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And so on today's episode, that's all we're going to be covering. The invasion, the international resistance, Ukraine's resistance, which has been amazing.

And then our guest on the show actually serves on President Biden's Security Council and has dealt with Russia directly. So everything on the show today is all about Russia's invasion. In many ways, Russia has invaded our show. So let's do this. It has been four days since Russian troops rolled into neighboring Ukraine, touching off the largest European conflict since World War II, or when Harry and Megan left the royals. So let's do it, people. Let's catch up on all the latest developments in our newest segment, the war in Ukraine.

As the pandemic started winding down, people all across the world have been thinking about what they're going to do as the world opens up, you know, spend more time with facts. Find a better work-life balance. Stitch all your old masks together into a giant mask and then use that as a comfort blanket. But Vladimir Putin clearly had very different post-pandemic plans, invading a sovereign country. And you know, for years, people have said that Russia might invade Ukraine

because it's always been Putin's wet dream to reunite the Soviet Union. You know, sort of the same way Disney wants to tie all of its franchises together. And now Mickey is fighting Thanos? I mean, it's weird, but profitable. So yeah, Putin has done the unthinkable. And in response, almost every nation around the world has gone, yo, my man, that is not cool.

Much of the world is trying to tighten its grip around Russia to get Vladimir Putin to back off Ukraine. For the first time ever, the EU will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons to Ukraine. Similarly, the United States for the first state, time has approved the direct delivery of Stinger missiles to Ukraine as part of a package approved by the White House. That decision came on the heels of Germany's announcement that it will send 500 Stinger missiles and other weapons and supplies to Ukraine. This was a historic break from

Germany's post-World War II foreign policy. The president is joining forces with European allies by kicking most Russian banks out of SWIFT, an international banking messaging system that makes global transactions easier. New sanctions will also target Russia's central bank, and allies are beginning to target Russian oligarchs with ties to Putin who shield his wealth in offshore accounts. Russian planes and private jets from oligarchs can no longer fly over dozens of countries.

The European Union and Canada are banning the flights from their airspace. Air France also just announced that it has suspended service from Russia. Yeah, that's right. They're cutting off banking. they're arming their enemies, and on top of that, airlines are stopping flights

to and from Russia, which, in my opinion, might be one of the worst things. Because, I mean, the best part about going to Russia is that you can fly out of Russia. Now they don't even have that. And if there's one thing that tells you how big these sanctions are,

it's that the Swiss have gotten involved. You understand how big that is, right? The Swiss don't get involved in anything, anything. The Swiss don't get involved in war. They don't get involved in alliance, My dad didn't get involved in my life. I would ask him to hug me,

and he'd tell me that his official policy was to stay neutral. I mean, think about it. Think about this for a moment. Putin's move is so crazy that Germany is like, it's time for us as Germany to rebuild our military! And the world is like, yeah, I hope. Now, beyond all the blocking flights and arming Ukraine,

one of the biggest moves that Europe and America, are taking right now is cutting Russia off of Swift, right? Which is huge. Which is huge. Like, we're talking no folklore, no 1989, not even the short version of all too well, which, I'm sorry, what? Oh, it's a different Swift.

Oh, it's an international banking system that verifies transactions across the globe. Oh. Well, I mean, they should probably change their name because that's confusing, you know? Anyway, what Russia has done, has gotten the world so riled up that it's not just the governments that are responding to this war.

No, everyone around the world is finding their own way to show Putin that he's an asshole. Major news from the sports world, the World Soccer Organization FIFA, is banning Russian teams from all of their games. The organization issuing a statement today banning Russian clubs and national teams from all competition until further noticed. FIFA says it stands in, quote,

full solidarity with all of the people affected in Ukraine. The European Broadcasting Union has banned Russia from participating in this year's Eurovision song contest. And back here at home, several governors around the United States are asking stores to pull Russian products off their shelves. A restaurant in Las Vegas went out on the street and poured all of their bottles of Russian vodka out onto the street. They'll be offering Ukrainian vodka instead. Formula One dropped the Russian Grand Prix from the season's racing calendar and the International Olympic Committee also urging sports federations to move or cancel their events in Russia

in Belarus. And the International Judo Federation suspending Putin's status as honorary president and ambassador of the Federation. Yeah, no World Cup for Putin, no Eurovision song contest for Putin, no more being president of the International Judo Federation, and in case you're wondering, yes,

he will no longer be allowed to host this year's Oscars, which I was kind of looking forward to. It's gonna be interesting. Now, I know a lot of people out there wondering, they're like, oh man, who cares? I mean, they're having their economy destroyed, Who cares if people are pouring out vodka? Who cares if...

But people, this actually makes a difference, right? South Africa had sanctions on it, which was really bad back in the day during apartheid. But it was the collective idea around the world that people were not for what was happening that sort of spurred a lot of the change. And don't forget, oftentimes in life, it's the little things that hurt the most.

You think they're small, but they get to you. You know, like think of it this way. Would you rather be shot or blocked by your ex? Hmm? Oh, and just by the way, now that Russia is not going to be playing in the World Cup, I mean, that means there's going to be an open spot, right? I'm just saying, FIFA, if you want to hook South Africa up with that spot,

you know, we've never invaded another country, you know, we barely even have a military. So if you're interested, shoot me a DM. I see you, FIFA. So, practically every democracy in the world right now is coming down hard against Russia. And it actually might be having an effect, because just this morning, the two countries held five hours of peace talks, which is good.

Although Russia did continue bombing Ukrainian cities the whole time that the peace talks were happening, which is not a good sign. I mean, bombing a country during your peace talks is like bringing your side chick to couples therapy. It doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Yeah, she's the problem. But don't get it twisted. Russia is feeling the effects of the world clamping down, especially the economic effects. The value of the Russian ruble hitting an all-time low this morning.

The first business day since harsh sanctions were imposed against Moscow for waging war on Ukraine. Now European operations for one state-owned Russian bank are already facing bankruptcy, saying in a press release, they're failing or likely to fail. Long lines of Russians waiting at ATMs after days of punishing sanctions levied on Moscow by the West. Many Russians are worried their bank cards will stop working or that banks will limit cash withdrawals. Well, damn, if Putin's goal is to bring back the glory days of the Soviet Union, people waiting hours and long lines is definitely a start.

And please, don't get me wrong, don't get me wrong. I don't like the fact that ordinary Russians are suffering for what Putin is doing. I don't like that. But then again, if they didn't want him as president, I mean, they shouldn't have re-elected him with 107% of the vote. But the big question now is, what will Putin do in the face of a cratering economy and a war that is not as easy as he probably wanted? Well, apparently his plan is to make things a whole lot worse. Ukraine and a dramatic escalation in the crisis there, Russia's military confirms this morning that the country's nuclear forces have indeed been put on high alert.

President Vladimir Putin calls it a response to, quote, aggressive statements by NATO leaders. Mr. Putin is becoming even more desperate. It's showing that his military progress is failing on the ground, that he has to resort to this kind of threat. He is pushing his inner circle away. We saw him publicly humiliating his closest advisors. That's what's most concerning.

Nobody there to prevent a catastrophic misstep. Oh, man, this is not good. Putin is threatening by activating his nuclear... What was it even mean? He's like getting my nuclear team ready. For what? For what, Putin? You realize this is not a good thing.

Putin is going nuclear and there's no one there to stop him. You see people? This is why every crazy world leader needs a pasty son-in-law by his side. Yeah, keeps them in check. Because no father-in-law wants to act the fool in front of the man who's banging his daughter, you know? Now, before you panic, before you panic, I know they said nuclear and I know they said Putin, but please take a breath.

Yes, the threat of nuclear annihilation may have increased. Yes, we may be on the moment. the brink of World War III, and yes, Europe is once again at the mercy of one power-hungry dictator, but on the bright side, when was the last time you thought about COVID? Huh? Yeah? But still, man, this invasion of Ukraine has put the world on edge, and it has amounted to one of the most dramatic weeks in a really long time.

Like, I don't know about you, but I have been glued to the TV all weekend, watching all the news, everything. And beyond the war itself, I will say that. I will say this, beyond the war, there's a really interesting thing that I learned. And that is, a lot of people on TV didn't expect a war like this to happen in, let's say, certain neighborhoods. This is not a developing third world nation. This is Europe.

These are prosperous middle class people. These are not people trying to get away from areas in North Africa. They look like any European family that you would live next door to. What could be a difference here from other conflicts, you know, that could seem very far away, you know, in Africa or Middle East or whatever. I mean, these are Europeans that we're seeing being killed. This isn't a place, with all due respect, you know, like Iraq or Afghanistan. You know, this is a relatively civilized, relatively European. I have to choose those words carefully, too, a city where you wouldn't expect that or hope that it's going to happen.

Wow. That was you choosing your. words carefully? That was the careful version. So what were you going to say if you weren't choosing your words carefully? I just hope the next time this happens, it happens back in the Middle East, where it belongs. Here's the thing, people. Here's the thing. Beyond the racism, right? Like, let's forget the racism. Or how I wish we could forget about the racism. You do realize that until very recently, fighting crazy wars was Europe's thing. That was Europe's entire thing. That's all of European history. They even had something called the 100 years war. You understand how long that is.

That's like a decade. They got a Nobel Prize because they stopped fighting. Imagine that. Now people are going to be like, oh, to see this in Europe, to see this. Like, I'll tell you now, I don't know about you, but I was shocked to see how many reporters around the world, by the way, seems to think that it's more of a tragedy when white people have to flee their countries. Because I guess what? The darkies were built for it. I mean, you see. how they run in the Olympics, Peter. Clearly, God has given them this talent for a reason. I totally agree.

I mean, even if this wasn't a war, these people would probably be fleeing their homes for fun. It's just who they are. Back to you guys in the studio. All right, we have to take a quick break, but please don't go away, because we've talked about the Russians. But when we come back,

we're going to be talking about the Ukrainian heroes who are inspiring the world. So don't go away. Because if you do go away, it means you support Russia because you stayed for the Russian part, but not the Ukrainian part. You should be ashamed of yourself.

We'll be right back. Welcome back to The Daily Show. Earlier on, we were talking about the global fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But obviously, the people facing the greatest impact from the war are the Ukrainian people themselves. Half a million people have been forced to leave their homes and they fled to neighboring countries.

Hundreds of civilians have reportedly been killed and countless others are huddled in basements, bomb shelters, and subway stations to avoid Russian missiles that are raining down on their neighborhoods. In fact, one woman even gave birth while she was hiding out in the subway, which is terrible.

I mean, the only silver lining I could think was that at least it wasn't a New York subway. You know, because that newborn would have been kicked by a subway dancer and then arrested for not paying their fare. But still, there is no doubt that this war has been devastating for Ukraine. But at the same time, it's also clear

that Putin has failed miserably in his attempt to break the country's spirit. Because I don't know about you, man, but I've been on Twitter basically nonstop since this war started. Just refreshing, refreshing, refreshing, you know, doing my part. So I've seen all the videos coming out of this war. And trust me, Ukrainians are not messing around. The troops defending Ukraine's Snake Island, as it's called in the Black Sea, instantly became the country's first heroes of the resistance, thanks to this stunning exchange with Russian forces.

This clip shows a man. It looks like he's carrying an anti-tank mine. He did this while managing to keep his cigarette in his mouth. This is the sort of extraordinary resistance Russia is facing here. 100 miles northeast of Kiev, a man tries to block a Russian tank. He kneels in front of it, determined to stop it in its tracks. U.S. officials believe this will be a Pyrrhic victory for Vladimir Putin, symbolized by that Ukrainian grandmother who confronted the Russian soldier.

After berating him, she handed him some sunflower seeds to put in his pocket and then said she looks forward to seeing sunflowers grow when his dead body lies down. body lies down on Ukrainian soil. Okay, I'm not a military strategist at all. But if a grandmother hands me seeds and tells me that sunflowers will bloom from my corpse, I think it's time to retreat. And I also love how her aggression was still on brand for a grandma. Like she's wishing him death, yes, but she's also doing gardening at the same time.

You know, the only way it could have been more grandma is if she used his blood to spell out a message asking why her grandson isn't married yet. And you know, just by the way, just by the way, one of the strangest experiences of the modern world is following a war on social media. Because all the other stuff on social media doesn't go away. It just gets mixed in together. Like my whole timeline this week was

Ukrainian civilians picking up weapon, rocket hitting a building. Uncutt jaams. Tanks rolling into Kiev. Uncatchiams. Uniting the people of Ukraine. Did I say uncutja? But those people that we're seeing in Ukraine, those are the ones who've just gone viral.

One of the reasons Ukraine has been able to put up such a fierce resistance to Russia is because everybody, and I mean everybody, is stepping up and joining the fight. Across this country, we've seen volunteers who've taken up arms, while others are making Molotov cocktails, including this group of women who've set up an assembly line. Painter Natasha Takchenko says she's put down her brush, now mastering the art of making a Molotov cocktail, hunkering down with her neighbors in the parking garage of their apartment building turned bomb shelter and makeshift factory. Similar scenes across the country. With how-to-instructions broadcast on state TV. Even the former Prime Minister now going viral

with his demonstration. The government encouraging all Ukrainians to take up arms and fight. This man leaves with two AK-47s, even though he's never fired a gun. Do you know how to use that? To tell the truth, I am not good at it, but I understand. I just need to find some quiet place and figure out how it works. Wow. Can you believe it? That guy was just given two assault rifles,

even though he has never fired a gun. I mean, if you're American, you can believe it, of course, but for everyone else in the world, this is crazy. And how insane is it that Ukrainian public television is actually teaching people, teaching people, how to make Molotov cocktails. You understand how insane that is, right? Like, imagine if during the Cuban Missile Crisis,

Mr. Rogers had come out like, all right, kids, I'm gonna show you how to kill your communist neighbor. Now, when you talk about Ukrainians stepping up to this moment, one big part of this resistance movement is Ukraine's president himself. Vladimir Zelensky, who, by the way, nobody thought would be able to lead his country,

like even less so in a war against Russia. And the reason people had there, doubts is because just four years ago, Zelensky wasn't even in politics. He was a comedian. Yeah. He was acting in TV shows, busting moves on dancing with the stars. And this is completely real. This is completely real. He even showed up on a TV show where he pretended to play the piano with his penis. See? This is why I always wipe down the piano with Lysol before I play. Yeah. I don't want my penis touching the same keys as someone else. But you see that guy? See that guy? You watch that clip. You're like, ha, that's ridiculous. He's the president of Ukraine right now. Yeah, he's the guy who has to rally his country against an overwhelming Russian invasion. And despite everyone's doubts and everything that they thought he would be, this man has more than stepped up to the occasion.

With his country in crisis, Ukraine's president, Blodomier Zelensky, is the very definition of leading from the front. sharing videos of himself on the street to reassure his people that he's still in the country. He's braving Russian missiles and airstrikes and telling Ukrainians, you are strong, you are unbroken. He reportedly turned down a U.S. offer to help him evacuate, saying, I need ammunition, not a ride. Damn. That's a hell of a gangster. not a ride. That's some action movie shit right there.

Meanwhile, Trump was hiding underground when people came with placards to the White House. There's so many words out there, hide me. And you've got to give Zelensky credit for refusing to flee the country because that's not just brave for a comedian. That's brave for any leader. Any leader. I mean, when is the last time you saw something like this, right? Most of the time, when leaders are in danger of getting overthrown or there's a war or something, they're the first ones to grab a suitcase full of cash and bounce. Yeah, they'll be like, we must defend this country.

country to the death. Your death, though, I'm going to Switzerland. But Zelensky, no, he's standing his ground and maybe even going down with the ship, which has turned him into an international hero. So, for more on this, let's go out now to another hero, our very own Michael Costa, who is reporting live from the center of the conflict in Ukraine.

Michael, can you hear me right now? And most importantly, are you safe? Yes, Trevor, I'm safe. Thanks for asking. War is hell, but I am doing the best that I can. Well, I'm sorry, Michael, is that the Eiffel Tower behind you? Are you, are you in Paris? Aren't you supposed to be in Kiev? Oh, no way, man.

There's a war over there. Haven't you heard? Paris is as close as I'm going to get to all that. It's not like it's so easy here either. The waiters are so rude. Michael, I'm disappointed in you. Come on, we spoke about you were going. Like, man, especially after seeing how brave presidents

Zelensky has been, you should be as brave. You're a fellow comedian. You should be proud of the example that he's setting. Proud? This Zelensky thing is a disaster for us, Trevor. People are going to see this comedian being brave and they're going to think we're all brave. I did not become a comedian to be brave. I became a comedian to eat free chicken fingers at comedy clubs. If a Russian ever threatened me, I would not be standing my ground. I'd be learning how to make Borsh the way that he likes it. Another one, but this time a white one. You're mine. Well, you know what, Costa? I'm disappointed, and that is just you, my friend.

Because I'm a comedian, and I'm inspired by Zelensky stepping up to fight. Oh, really? So you want my train ticket to Kiev so you can fight on the front lines? Well, I mean, I think I have more value here at the show, you know, getting the word out to the people, informing them about... Blah, blah, blah. Admit it, you're a coward.

There's no world leader inside of you, Trevor. It's just more chicken fingers. Okay, fine. I'm not brave either. But I still think it's inspiring. to see one of our own be brave, you know? Yeah, Trevor, you're not really grasping what's at stake here. It's not just about fighting in wars.

After seeing Zelensky, people are going to expect comedians to do all sorts of selfless acts now, stopping crime, responding to amber alerts. Just this morning, someone asked me to hold the elevator. I'm still shaking from that. Just imagine if I'd actually held it for. Well, you know something, Costa? I think that in your own way,

you actually are brave. Yeah, I mean, not many people would have the guts to sound like that much of an asshole on TV. I'm actually really inspired, man. Thank you, Trevor. I appreciate it, you know, and when you put it that way, I am sort of a hero. So, if you excuse me, I just saw an old woman fall

and I got to get out of here before she asked me for help. Inspiring, Michael. Thank you so much. All right, when we come back, we're going to be talking more about the war in Ukraine with foreign policy expert Samantha Powell, so don't go away. Did he pay his bill before he left?

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Welcome back to The Daily Show. My guest tonight is Samantha Power, administrator of USAID and a member of President Biden's National Security Council. She joins us from Brussels to talk about the war in Ukraine. Administrative Power, thank you so much for joining us on the show. Thank you for having me. You know, it's really crazy how the last time I spoke to you

was actually on the Daily Show. This was pre-you know, all of this happening. I think it was even pre-pandemic. And one of the questions I asked you, was about Russia. You responded saying that Russia is a constant threat, and it seems like that has come true. If that's the case, my first question to you is,

how did you see it coming and how did the U.S. seem to not do what it could have done, or was this something that was inevitable? It's a great question, and I will say that I was UN ambassador under Barack Obama in his second term, and we could find pockets of cooperation. But for me, what really

made clear that Russia was heading in a different direction and it had great consequences for humanity was the Syria crisis. And particularly, you might remember, the bombing of Aleppo, which was like before it, the bombing of Grozny in Chechnya, internal to Russia. So suddenly Russia outside of its borders was backing, yes, a regime, a government that was also a member state of the United Nations, pulverizing civilians. First time I ever heard the phrase, Trevor, fake news, which has now become a staple, was the Russian ambassador at the United Nations talking about making a set of false claims about what was happening in Syria and about how all they were doing is neutralizing terrorists.

And it was the first time they were asking us not to believe what we saw with our own eyes. And then, of course, we had the interference in the 2016 election, which was so systematic. So when you ask, where are things going? I mean, they have obviously turned now in the darkest direction imaginable. galvanizing the democratic world, but well beyond that. I mean, galvanizing statements also from, for example, the African countries, the Latin American countries, and others in the world who are just saying enough. You cannot pulverize civilians in this way.

You can't try to take over a country just because you want to make your own country bigger. Like, that's not okay. But it's been a reality check, I think, for a lot of countries and publics around the world who didn't realize it had gotten this bad. From a layman's perspective, it feels like the world is in a place where either countries are afraid of Russia or, you know, let's say, for instance,

Germany or many countries around Europe, they're so dependent on Russia for its energy, you know, providing energy, they're so dependent on Russia for wheat, et cetera. It feels like the world is in a position where they can chastise Russia, but they can't actually do anything to Russia. Is there something,

world could do? When we were warning about the troop buildup on the other side of Ukraine, there were, you know, some countries within Europe that were questioning, you know, is that really true? Would Putin really do it? And it was kind of a little bit of wishful thinking in the sense of you don't want to have to impose those costs. You don't want to do them also to the Russian economy. Nobody wants to go into, wakes up in the morning and says, you know, I want to inflict severe

economic pain on another country. Right. Well, the invasion itself has produced a degree of unity and a willingness to go further than we have seen Europe ever be willing to go and to bear those costs potentially to their own economies, at least in the short term. Certainly major questions now about their energy sources and energy prices. Are those going to be up? But they basically said what he is doing is intolerant. And we are going to bear some of those spillover effects because we have to inflict a degree of punishment here in the hopes of getting him right now at the beginning. You know, it's only been going for less than a week, but to get him to step away from this reckless, devastating course of action. And, you know, the kinds of steps that have been taken just in the last 48 hours go so far beyond what most observers. thought was conceivable for just the reason you say this kind of mutually assured destruction, interconnectedness of the energy market and of our economic system at large. But the SWIFS sanction is the most severe sanction that one can impose, you know, cutting off the U.S. citizens,

European citizens' ability to do business with the Russian Central Bank. That was something that until 48 hours ago, I think President Putin still thought he was going to be able to draw upon. Now, again, And what needs to happen is then the elites around Putin, who also have an awful lot to lose from the severity of these unprecedented sanctions with so many countries behind them, is that those elites need to chime in and do everything in their power to affect a calculus that so far on Putin's part hasn't shown a lot of regard for the welfare of the Russian people. This is Putin's MO. And so that's the question of the people around him

and when his cost-benefit calculus is going to be affected by all of this. And the sanctions that have been brought online and the unity, you know, make the cost much more evident to him than I think anybody expected, including perhaps him. It doesn't seem like China has condemned Russia. They put out vague statements that sort of say, we just believe that everyone should be able to determine their borders,

which you could almost read both ways, funny enough. is there a possibility that unless Russia stands up, you know, I mean, unless China stands up, is there a possibility that the world could almost push Russia to China and then trade in Asia just becomes Russia's way out? Or do you think the sanctions aren't going to be enough to get Russia to come to the table? Well, first of all, Russia's economy is massively dependent

on Europe and the United States, as is Russian manufacturing and so many of the industries that keep the economy afloat. And so the dollar economy is still the animating force of the global economy. I think when it comes to China's reaction, first of all, because of the relationship that President Putin and President Xi have built, a relationship predicated on not wanting any country to question what they are doing to their own people. Yeah.

wanting to be able to crack down and repress and round people up. I mean, that is something they have in common, and that has brought them together among other dynamics. But given the increasing closeness of that relationship, many people expected that China would join Russia in vetoing a recent UN Security Council resolution condemning what is happening. And instead, to your point, China just said, actually we're going to abstain.

And we're going to say all parties should, you know, have cooler heads or whatever. And so I actually think that it doesn't look like isolation. Of course, we think it's outrageous that any country would miss an opportunity to condemn, you know, a full-on invasion of its neighbor. So an abstention is not the desired posture that we would wish, you know, China or any member state of the United Nations to take. at the same time, it is a signal to Putin that China is not attaching its mast to this sale. Right.

It is putting some distance in there. And that, Trevor, I think, is partly also because China has its own global project that it has embarked upon. China sees that the rest of the world is horrified and that the rest of the world really has brought a degree of empathy and outrage to what Russia has. has done. And so China's a self-interested actor in that world as well, and looking out for its own standing. Well, Administrator Powell, thank you so much for taking the time. I know you're dealing with the crisis on the ground talking to many of these people. Hopefully it'll be resolved sooner than later. I appreciate you for joining me on the show. Thank you, Trevor. Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by searching The Daily Show, wherever you get

your podcasts. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast.