The Duran Podcast - Inside Russian military barracks w/ João Quaresma

Episode Date: December 14, 2025

Inside Russian military barracks w/ João Quaresma

All right, we are here with Zhao Karezma, who is a journalist and is just returned from the front lines in Ukraine. So, Zhao, before we get to what you've seen in Ukraine on the front lines, where can people follow your work and where can people find out more about the reporting that you do? So I have my own channel, but I mostly do work to give away to other channels in order to not concentrate all my resources and then when they get banned and lose everything. But I'm part of the Portuguese community, multipolar TV. These are my main broadcasters. And I have my own channel, Admir Levere Geopolitics. And yeah, and that's pretty much it. And then I give away my material, literally give away,

because that's the point of it. I'm a volunteer journalist to several Brazilian channels like Commander Farinatsu, patriotic war and others. Okay, so I will have your links in the description box down below, and I will also add them as a pin comment. You have just returned from the front lines of Ukraine. So tell us exactly where you were. Tell us the geography of where you traveled and the places that you saw as a journalist.

And then you can tell us about the people that you spoke to and what you saw when you were on the front lines. Well, it's always a very complex journey to go traveling through Donbass, especially when you're just like a few dozens of kilometers away from contact line. and drones now can reach about 60, 70 kilometers. It's not safe even at this distance. But I started my journey, let's say, in Melitopol, Zaporosia region, and then came Donetsk, Lugansk, Kursk region, and all the way up to the border with Finland. So it was quite an epic journey.

But to start in Donbass, I, I focused my interviews and my collection of information with the troops. Of course, civilians' accounts are also very important. I have very interesting ones. But I visited the 40th regiment of Marines. They are from Far East. They are operating in Donbass between Zaporosia and Donetsk. region. I cannot get into some

specifics here. And so they are on that area and I visited them and talked to several of them. And it is funny how it contrasts with the news, right? Their spirit, for example, is, I mean,

it's very high, is unshakable. It is an unimaginable experience to be with those guys in their barracks where they get all their training and then you can see that is provided to them by the Russian state. I mean, it really goes against those narratives of fighting with shovels and whatnot,

ships from washing machines, all that nonsense that you hear in the West. These guys are motivated. They are well equipped. And they operate in areas which we see from other sources that they are advancing pretty well. And sometimes even like steam roll in the Ukrainian. So, of course, there is a negative side to it. I cannot lie about this. There are casualties that are suffered, people that have very harsh stories to tell you.

But when I asked them, why don't you quit, why don't you go home? Some people are from thousands of kilometers away in other regions of Russia. Why don't you go join your family in peace because they are all volunteers? None is dragged to those horrors. They always say, no, no, no, it's impossible. It is their duty. It is their duty to the motherland. And they always say the same thing.

In different parts of the front line where I spoke to different troops, they always say the same thing. The main difference between them and the Ukrainian army is their spirit. They don't care if they die. This for me is amazing. No fear ever revealed in a huge sense of humor you find there. I don't know if this answers your question. So you started off the travels you're reporting in the south, in the Zapparoja region.

Melitopol is where you started. The Zaporajar region. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, and then you moved your way. up, so you went through Donetsk and all the way up to the north? Are you talking about Harkov, Sumi, in these areas? Well, in this Harcov and Summianz. Yeah.

Yeah, not in Kupiansk proper, because some areas here are, you really cannot access there with very carefully planning and even some special permissions. if you're going across the border to the side of Ukraine. But I was in the Kusk region, and then from the Kusk region went up to Karelia with the Finnish border, where nothing is going on, but a lot can be going on in the future. So, yes, the trip was an epic one. I've passed towns, the amount of destruction that you see.

Bear in mind that this is my fourth time. and you've gone bus. Yes. How long was this? Was the entire report, the entire trip? About two and a half weeks. Two and a half weeks on the front lines. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And we're sleeping in sometimes in some conditions in dugouts. How does it work? How does it work? How do you apply to gain access as a reporter? And then you're accompanied by, by military or you're you're always escorted with military with you as you travel or I mean can you can you talk about the process or you can't slide just not all of the process because there are personalities if everyone is afraid to show their face because they might be

recognized they might have family on the other side assassinations and attempts of any kind are common are common and I saw this is this is a common fear that everyone has. Most of the interviews that I've taken, the guys were wearing balaclavas. And so the process is this. We start to contact people who know people, who know people, who know people.

And then sometimes we get a breakthrough. Sometimes it's not possible. But I start to do this work in advance. I have some contacts here in Russia, and normally this process starts when I'm still in Portugal before coming here. And then physically we go to some part escorted by a civilian entity, and then we leave our cars, we leave our things. We get into other cars which have other cars guiding us and we go to the more sensitive places.

And normally the endpoint is really difficult to tell exactly where it is because we start traveling some rooms and we don't know where we are. We know that we are in that area. It's for all for safety reasons when you get to a certain distance from the front lines. And also the front lines, I would like to add this. There are no classical front lines anymore. I have seen enough solid information. I mean, they were shown to me about the disposition, the exact disposition,

of troops in a front line, where it's a complete mix of Russian and Ukrainian units, sometimes on the rear of each other. And this for me was quite impressive, because you cannot have huge concentrations of troops. You cannot move troops like you used to move in big columns and big groups and whatnot. troops have to move secretly most of the times. I can say that before we had the spearhead with the armored vehicles, this is well known until not long ago, and now the spearhead to make breakthroughs through the front line is infiltration.

This is the main key and the main expertise of a successful army now to make a breakthrough is successful infiltration, because drones are everywhere, and drones are the rulers of the battlefield. Who has the best infantry, the best morale, the best training of men to survive this swarms of drones gets the upper hand on the battlefield? This I have seen with my own eyes,

and I had explained to me by the experts on the ground. Wow. All right, so Zhao, we're going to bring in Alexander. We're still recording, so we're going to bring in Alexander to the conversation. Yeah, we're going to, we'll update Alexander. I'm not sure if he's hearing what we're saying, but one second, let me bring him in. Alexander, welcome.

Well, good day and hello. I'm sorry I've been late today, but it's my challenge. No worries, Alexander. We're recording and this is going to go up on our platform. So we're just going to continue the conversation. We're going to bring you in on it. I don't know if you were able to listen to what Zhao was saying. I heard a significant part of it, especially towards the...

Okay, great. So Zhao was two and a half weeks. Correct me if I'm wrong about this. Two and a half weeks on the front lines in Ukraine. And he started off in Melitopol, the Zaporje region. And he worked his way up all the way to the north, to the borders with Finland. And he has seen quite a lot.

He's interviewed many, many people, soldiers and civilians. Before I pass it off to Alexander Zhao, I just want to ask you one question. Are your reports, your frontline reports, are they specifically targeted at the Portuguese-speaking population? Are they for Portugal and Brazil? Or do you also do reports in English as well as you're on the front lines? I'm your non-typical journalist. First of all, because I do have other job in Portugal. So to answer your question directly, I address mainly the Portuguese-speaking world.

So being Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Musambique, everywhere where Portuguese language is spoken. In the past, I tried and failed miserably doing it in English. And also the competition such as you guys was already. already too high. So I said, this is not my field. And I watch a movie's walking about and I tried to do the same in the past. But no, it's mainly Portuguese audience. And like I said, I produce, my main focus is to produce the content and then to broadcast it to channels that are interested in it because I really cannot manage to do it all by myself, to be a one-man show, you know, to come here, all these trips, to endure all these long trips,

and then to produce the content, treat the content, all of that, and, you know, and still manage the channels. All right. Alexander, his fourth time on the front lines, Shau, so he's seen quite a lot. So, Alexander, I'll pass it off to you, whatever questions you have. Once again, he started from Militapol, two and a half weeks, worked his way up. At a time when we had Gulliapole going on, we had Pachrovs going on, Kupyansk and Alexander before we started the recording,

me and Zhao talked about Siersky's comments as well, which he made just yesterday where he claims that Russia is actually not advancing on the front lines and that Ukraine is actually taking territory now from Pachrosk and other regions. This is Siersky's appeal to President Trump. In other words, Siersky saying that it's all Russian propaganda that they're advancing. Anyway, Alexander, your questions for sure. Well, first of all, thank you very much for coming, but lots of questions. Firstly, about morale, because what you've described must be an intense and exhausting experience

for the soldiers who are involved in it. Did you speak to any of the actual soldiers? I mean, what is their feelings about the situation? And how long did they stay on the front lines? because this looks like an exhausting and extremely stressful thing to be involved in. I mean, probably war is exhausting and stressful anyway, but the kind of war that you're describing must be so especially. Well, it depends on the role they have on the front lines.

I've spoken to several soldiers on different units. Some of them have roles that I just mentioned, the roles of infiltration, and these can spend quite a while on the front lines, but it's never more than if you have a very heavy, how should I say, a role that burdens you a lot. I mean, if you're not staying with your own troops, if you have to go on infiltration and stay hidden in some places, well, it depends on how long the mission takes,

but it shouldn't be more than one, two, three weeks. but if we are talking about troops, they are stationed more or less in the second echelons, third echelons, they can be up there for about maybe two months and have some rests and some rotation. This is maximum. Of course, I think this can vary from unit to unit,

but overall what you can see by the faces of the troops that you find is that they are not exhausted. This is the main thing to point out. They are eager to talk. They are not eager to show their faces, but they are eager to talk, and they are excited when they see someone that actually goes there. Because there's a lot of reporting done from far away, a lot of speculation. And when they see actually someone there and our interviews take place in places completely non-typical made for interviews and dugouts and whatnot. sent a sample of this to Alex, this such interview taken in the dugout.

And so, I think briefly, I haven't seen any exhausted troops. I've been on the road to the road to Pocrovsk. I went as far as Selidovo. And what made this possible was a humanitarian mission that was going there. So we got in contact with these guys and they agreed to take us. and there you can see I mean you go under those nets that go along the roads

those protective nets that you must have seen in some footage and the destruction is just you go from Donetsk and then in that direction the destruction is just something something to see and yet you find smiling faces

you find people in the good mood and the spirits are high I mean that's another question I wanted to ask because there has been an astonishing lack of war reporting. I mean, what you do is almost unique. There's Patrick Lancaster who does this. But very, very few people do this, what you're doing now. And how difficult is it to get the Russians, in this case, I mean, on the Russians.

But how difficult is it to get them to agree to let someone like yourself come and visit the front lines and see what is really going on. I mean, Putin a few weeks ago said, you know, if Western journalists want to come and see what the situation is in Pagrovsk, they're welcome to, we're prepared to give a ceasefire. So he seemed to suggest that it's not so difficult, but that's him. What the officials do is another matter. But what is there, what is, how difficult is it?

Because I remember, I mean, I remember Vietnam. I remember the war reporting then. They were there on the front line. there were an absolutely essential corrective to all the things that we were reading about and hearing about. So, you know, they would tell us that, you know, Danang is holding and it turned out that it wasn't holding or something of that kind. So how difficult is this to do? It's quite difficult. It takes time. My first time in Doniatsk was in 2023, November 2023.

and the person I could manage to contact and to host me there and then I had a lot of luck to arrive there by myself without having any contacts on the way was Mr. Russell, Texas Bentley. I think you remember him. So he was, we were friends, we used to communicate online and he told me, come here and I'll show you around. So that was my, that was the first time I set foot on Donetsk

by the time of Dyevka was still under Ukrainian control as well as Marinka, and we used to go to sleep under the sound of shelling. This is true. I witnessed arrivals of High Mars in the center of Donetsk. I mean, if you compare it to now, Donetsk has a much, much better life. And so from here, then unfortunately, you know what happened. Russell, by the way, the first court sentence has came out. I don't know if you're aware of this, and people are being convicted, and rightfully so.

And then I started to come. I've contacted people like, I don't know if you've heard of Marcia, Maria Lelyanova. She was a girl that had the perspective on the Ukrainian-Russian War at the beginning, and after she visited Donbass, she completely changed her perspective. I had interviewed her one time, and then from that on, I started to coming here and know more and more contacts, and it's still difficult. But like I said to Alex, we know one person that knows one person, that knows another person, and sometimes a breakthrough happens.

Sometimes we have to do things a little bit in a sketchy way, but I cannot reveal all the details. I'm sorry. Of course not. But it is not simple, and it is a building process. This is the main idea. Which is what reporters supposedly should be doing. If you're doing it, other reporters who could do it, they don't seem to be so interested. It is a lot of work, but then, you know, work is what builds, and you build trust and all of that.

Do the Russian authorities take any steps to assist you, or do they instead impede you? I mean, do you have problems with, I mean, do they have press conferences? I presume they don't. I mean, I've never seen anything like that. There's no press spokesmen that the Russians have on the front lines, as far as I know. But do you have any contacts of that nature with the Russian officialdom, or at least the more senior people in the military? I mean, how do the officers respond when they see you turning up? Well, there are people responsible for safe.

I've lost you. Can you hear me? I've lost you. I've lost him. Okay. I'm back. You're back? Okay.

So there are people responsible to arrange such contacts, and they have connections to such hierarchical places. Sometimes I don't get permission and sometimes I get permission. It depends on what I've just told you about building the trust thing. Because there is a lot of safety concerns. This is a pattern that I noticed everywhere. People don't know exactly who you are and why are you doing this. And especially when I tell my story that I come from Portugal,

I take vacation to do this job about two times a year. They find it a little bit strange. But I've been doing it now for quite some time. So I think I manage more and more. And I also, I mean, I've been interviewed before in the channel of the Ministry of Defense called Zvezda, which will happen also. also today.

One thing I would like to add, you did not ask this to me, but I think it's an interesting feature. We have been hearing about Colombians in the Ukrainian army. Well, I had a chance to interview in Spanish because I speak Spanish, and I had a chance to interview in Spanish a group of Colombians that are fighting in Donbass. And it was very interesting to hear their account. Once I get it all done, you know, edited and whatnot, I will publish this interview. But one of the things I asked them was about other Colombians that they know that went to fight on behalf of Ukraine. And they said that they chose Russia because Russia did offer decent conditions and fulfill their contracts.

while other accounts they hear from other Colombians that fight on behalf of Ukraine is they get long stays at the front line, they don't get rotated. Sometimes their contracts are not fulfilled in the terms of payment. And this was very interesting to know about because their biggest worry here was they come here to get a better life. That was their main goal. Interesting. I'd like to ask you a specific question, which is all over the media every day in the West. And I'd like to tell you of a conversation I had yesterday with Daniel Davis. It's not secret.

It's actually online. It was over the course of a discussion that I had with him, which will appear on, and it has already appeared on his channel. He said to me that one of the reasons Western European goods, governments are digging in their heels and are so resistant to negotiations is because they have been told that the Russian army is losing around 1,000, over 1,000 men killed and wounded on the front lines every day. He said that he'd been told this by four people who work within the intelligence communities. Now, of course, he didn't tell me who they were or which

intelligence community, but Daniel Davis has had many contacts with the intelligence communities, the intelligence world, and it is not a secret that Tulsi Gabbard at one point actually wanted to tap him and make him a deputy director of national intelligence as the United States. So he works closely with the intelligence world. He said to me, though, that there is actually dissension about this within the intelligence agencies in the West. Others are coming back saying that these numbers are wrong, that the true scale of Russian casualties is much lower than this. Some say that they are 10% of this figure.

But we're not going to get onto this program into any guesswork about casualties, because none of us knows what they are. But the assumption is that the Russian army is becoming exhausted, that it is running out of steam, This is apparently something that all of the top European leaders believe. Stama believes it, Macron believes it, Mance believes it. This is what they're being told, and they actually believe it apparently. When you go to the front lines, when you speak with the soldiers, do you get any sense,

not about specific numbers about casualties, but about an army that is running out of steam, that is becoming exhausted? What is your impression? Obviously, this is only an impression, but you are actually there. Well, this is an excellent question because I make this question to the troops all the time. How are you guys feeling? What is your expectations for the future? What is your perspective on what you are doing?

And I get smiles and optimism. And they say, we do our job. Of course, casualties exist. It's impossible to ignore this, but it's by far the impression of an army in this array that is lacking. It's an army that has hardships like any other army, but it's perfectly there. I've met very, very, I come across people who are very, very competent. and they, not only by the things that they show me, the training grounds, I had access to training grounds, like I just mentioned before.

And all the people that I spoke there, all the guys that were there, some of them have not seen combat yet. They were getting ready to go to combat in exactly the Pocroft's direction. Their morale was just superb. And they, I mean, they are being well-treated, well-fed, well-eared, well-equipped. with. And about casualties, for example, I can make deductions. When I'm in such road to Pocrofts, for example. And it's a rather long ride, not because of the distance, but because the road is completely full of holes and you have to go all the way around them. But you see all the traffic is like civilian traffic is non-existent, and at some point you only see military

traffic and loads of it. Equipment, all kinds of equipment, cars. and what not. And when you come across vans that have the number 300, for example, or 200, you know what these codes mean, so it's been wounded. And the number of these vans that we come across, it's residual, I should say. And I haven't seen a single 300 one, only, sorry, a single 200 one, only 300. And I have, not this time, but in last May I have visited the Kursk region. was quite near Suja and I actually had the opportunity to visit a medical unit in this region. I cannot say which unit it was, of course, exactly where they were stationed, but it was in the Kusk region, Suja direction.

And I remember spending a night there, sleeping there. And this was the place where they bring the wounded and stabilize them before they send them to bigger hospitals. And I spent the whole night there, and there was one arrival of three or four persons during the whole night. And this is where this front line was very, very hot. So this is the impression. I do not make any assumptions or create any numbers. This is what I have to tell you about it. You actually anticipated my next question, which is I was going to ask you whether you'd seen any of the medical facilities, any of the

facilities for treating soldiers who have been wounded and how well organized that is. By the way, I should quickly say this is an area where it's not widely known, but Russia has had a very long history of military medicine going certainly back to the Crimean War. A fact, very few people in the West know. But what was your overall sense of the sort of support medical facilities that have been provided for the Russian military. Are they efficient? Are they good?

Are they up standard? Are they worse than Western standards? Well, one unfortunate thing that I've, I didn't realize it before visiting or talking to these people or being in these places is that the Red Cross, as we used to know it, as a symbol of a thing that you could not attack, you know, respect its rules on the battlefield is no more. So actually, many of these places have to be uncharacterized, can I say this? Well, in conspicuous places, you cannot.

I mean, if they know there is a hospital there, if they know this military vehicle is an ambulance, they will bomb it. They will target with drones. I had many accounts of this. I had published interviews with medical officers that gave me this account. As far as the quality of the installations, you could be surprised what the Russians can do with this improvised installations because they cannot be an official building places near the front line. They have to improvise installations, but it's the same with the quality of their sleeping quarters, for example. It's fantastic.

They know how to build it very simply, very efficient and yet very comfortable. The same I saw in this medical facilities, they were very well organized. They are prepared for anything. And also the mood, it's interesting, the mood that this medical facilities is a bit different from, for example, facilities that house assault units, for example. You see more female military there and whatnot, so it's a different thing. And everyone is just doing their job. But I haven't seen, even in this bigger hospital that I've been there,

I haven't seen, for example, the main room where the wounded arrived to be stabilized, it was empty. And I stayed there for two days, two whole days. And I didn't see it work. Okay, another question, which is, again, derived so much of the commentary in the media. equipment shortages every single day at somewhere in the media in the West lots of stories about the Russian army

short of equipment you know they're short of ammunition they're short of tanks there was stories of there was an article that I read just I think it was two days ago that Russian soldiers know going into battle without a body armor for example that they've run out of barbie armor so you know this is

a constant drumbeat of stories that you see all the time. What is your sense of this? Well, I haven't seen anyone without a body armor, including myself. So whenever I went different places, there was always body armor available for us, and I'm not alone there. This nonsense, this nonsense. I mean, even when you don't go to the hottest of the places, they will immediately tell you, they will be, immediately put a body armor on you, immediately. And I have seen, I hope I don't give away too much here, but I have seen places where weapons are kept and body armorers are kept.

And I can assure you that all of it, and I've seen it through several points. It was not just one time. I've seen it throughout my times in Dornbas. They have fully stocked. And ammunition, I mean, I would have stories to tell you, but it's not... Obviously, no, you can't. Okay. Obviously, I mean, we have to understand that there are constraints on what one can say.

I want to come back, you know, I need to be allowed to come back. Well, absolutely, absolutely. Can you tell us anything of what the Russian soldiers think about the quality of the army on the other side? Yes. And given that both Russians and Ukrainians can talk to each other, are there any communications? I mean, I've known of wars where, as I said, the soldiers on each side do actually send messages to each other. I mean, they may not be friendly messages, but it happens. It happened a lot during the American Civil War, for example.

Does anything like that go on? Well, I have asked this question to the soldiers many times. About the communication with the enemy, I don't know, maybe they are conditioned to answer this. but the answer is unanimous. The only way they will talk to the enemies is if the enemy rises the white flag. This has been unanimous. I've been in the last year and two months,

I've been three times to Donbass, and every time I ask this question, this was the case. I have talked, although in the past, last May I have made several interviews to prisoners of war. as far as I'm concerned with the equipment on the other side I've asked this question and yeah they the Ukrainian army is equipped according to the

to the unit of territorial defense forces they tend to be equipped with old Soviet equipment all very heavy body armors if all have body armors and and I know this from both sides because the Russians tell me this about the quality of the equipment that they capture. And I heard this from prisoners of war, from Ukrainians that gave this account that they didn't have enough material. They were sent to the slaughter, literally. These interviews are published.

They are in, they are in, I make my questions in English, they answer in Russian, it's subtitled in English and in Portuguese. These interviews are available on our channels. So it is like this. Then you have the extreme right battalions. Those are extremely well equipped with the latest fashion, let's put this, of body armor and weapons. But I think this is a thing that is widely known, but I could see it and I could hear it. So I could prove it.

I could actually see that it was true. The war in the air, I mean, we have drones. I mean, you've discussed drones extensively. First of all, have you any sense who has the advantage now? Because Siersky claims still that Ukrainians do. There are other accounts that say that the balance are shifted to the Russians. What about the ability to defend against drones? talked about the netting, but I mean that there's constant stories.

I read an article very about dandelion systems that are stuck on tanks and anti-drone things. You see pictures sometimes of people shooting at drones with what looked like shotguns, actually. I mean, did you get any sense of who is gaining the advantage in this area? And did you ever come across this rather mysterious Rubicon group than we're hearing about and all the time? I have come across drone units in the Zaporosia region. Actually, a unit, I will not mention the name because they can't be known that they are there, they are stationed there.

But they are responsible for developing drones on site together with the troops. It's not like they are developed in the universities in Moscow and then they go be tested on the battlefield. No, everything is done there. They develop it there and they immediately send it to the battlefield to be tested. This is a question that I repeatedly do to everyone. How is the drone balance? How do you defend against drones? Well, the answer is unanimous.

Drones make up the most casualties now because it used to be artillery, is not anymore. but the Russian soldiers have developed their tactics to focus on this in a way that they didn't have before. They admit whenever I asked what changed in your tactics, they say everything changed. So by parts, first part, who has the biggest army drone? It's unclear because some parts of the front Russians have the advantage. this is what they told me. Some parts of the front, they have the advantage, some parts of the front they lose the advantage.

I give you one example. This one example was in Kursk region before the Russians did the pipe operation. They had a hard time there with Ukrainian drones. But if we are talking about Pocroft's direction, they clearly, the Russians clearly have a good advantage. there. Although it's, we wouldn't say Ukraine has lack of drones because Europe and the Western countries supply them with these machines in great, great numbers. Sometimes

the problem are not the number of drones. The problem is the number of operating and the number of people expert to coordinate these drones with the rest of the troops because it's just not a matter of sending drones to the battlefield. You have to coordinate these drones with the troops and there are various types of drones, I mean, multiple types of drones that they have to make work with different units and different operations, defense offensive and whatnot, infiltration and whatnot. So this is a very complex matter and there's no clear winner in this regard on the advantage. Another part of the war in the air, which is.

which is the actual conventional air force, the bombs. The Russian Air Force, they've been dropping now these big fab precision guided bombs. Do you get any sense of that in the fighting? And what about the Ukrainian Air Force? They've received lots of F-16s, some Mirage 2000s. Do you see them in the sky? Do people worry about them? I mean, just again, what is the balance?

And are these fab bombs, is their presence evident? Is it making a difference? Well, their presence are evident with the holes that you see on the ground. But I actually, look, the weather has been foggy. The predominant weather while I was in the Donbass region was heavy fog, which actually made us breathe in relief while we were driving. through some roads, that this fog protects us from drones. But no one, I haven't heard a single mention, and I asked this question, the same question

that you asked to me. No one is afraid of the Ukrainian Air Force, no one. And if I have ever seen planes dropping fabs, I have, not this time, but when I was back in October, not this October, the other October last year. I've seen this because the sky was clear and you could see the planes doing their maneuver to drop the bomb and come back. So it was, and several of them in the Donetsk region. At this time, the front lines, it was a time where I think Uglada had just fallen.

And yeah, it was it. One further question about the soldiers, Russian soldiers. What sort of age levels are there? I mean, I get the impression we're talking about men in their 30s. Is this about right? Or Ukrainian soldiers were told they're in their late 40s, early 50s, young, Russian soldiers younger, but it's still not a war of 20-year-olds, at least on either side.

Is this about correct or is that just a mistaken impression? No, I have, well, I have, recently I have interviews that I will publish with 18-year-old volunteers. Right. Then from the predominant, I would say the majority are between 20s and 30s in the Russian Army, 20 and 30 years old. And then of course you have people that have long history in the army. They can be a little bit above 30. There are at their peak, there are experts, most of them of who I met. and that's it, but you don't see like a bunch of old men or at least people above 40,

you see rarely. I come across some, but even then, they are volunteers. They are there because they decided to go there. They are not dragged from the streets. And basically last question, Brunton, I want to wrap up quickly, which is what about all of these various interesting units that we used to hear about? early in the war, the Wagner unit, the various other special military units, the Chechens, the Ahmad special forces, whatever. I mean, they seem to represent a very, very large proportion,

at least from the commentaries and the reporting that we used to get, of the Russian forces at the beginning of the war and the, you know, the various Donbass militia groups, the Somalia brigade and all of that. I get the sense that the Russian army has homogenized, and regularized. I don't hear so much about these units anymore. Is that correct? I mean, is that a true sense now that it is absolutely the regular Russian army

that is now conducting the war? Great question. Because the Wagner, we know the Wagner group and the importance they had on the front lines. Well, I have met several ex-Vagner's, and their role is very similar. they prepare other troops and newly arrived troops to go to the front line. And those guys are, those guys are impressive.

I cannot reveal any identity but one. One of them is an ex-Vagner. He has a podcast called Warrior with History. He's in Russian. He's here in Moscow. and through him I have met several other members of this organization and yeah but this is like it's more uniformized then but their role is invaluable

I would like to say something else before we wrap up I don't know if you want to wrap up afterwards but I would like if possible to say then a few words before we end about the northern border with please please please So this was my last point of visit, and why did I go there? Because we know recent news, well, the history with Finland and Russia has been a peaceful one after the World War II. We've known this.

There were several cooperation agreements in all fields of society, education, education, business, industry, whatnot. And the Finns unilaterally changed this. And it was quite interesting to speak to the people in Karelia. As you know, on the other side of the Finnish border, they are building fences, they are building all kinds of fortifications. They are taking an aggressive stance. They closed the border. And the Russians didn't.

This for me was the Finns can come to Russia at. any time. And the Russians, if they want to come to Finland in that part of the world, they have to go all the way up, cross to Norway and then from Norway to Finland. They have to make a detour of 2,000 kilometers. I had the opportunity to interview an expert. It's a history teacher and historian, Sergei Wien, from the University of Petrosovatsk. He's an expert in history and in relations between Finland and Russia.

And he's, I asked him, why are not the Russians building any defenses here? Why are not the Russians taking similar aggressive stance? They say the Russians are not interested in the war. This was a unilateral decision from Finland. And

actually it's a pattern of the history of the Finns to do this to the Russians. If you go back to all the way to the beginning of the 20th centuries. It was a good interview that I will also publish because it's very enlightening. And the people are, I spoke there, the civilians, they are scared, actually,

because they don't understand why suddenly everyone had their businesses and their exchanges through this border for decades. And now, for example, on the Finnish side, a lot of the economy is going down because they depended on Russian tourism. And this makes no sense. For example, the Finns had investments in the wood business on the Russian side.

Their companies had to leave, so they lost their business. So this doesn't make any sense. I think it's important to talk about it because everyone says Russia, on the Finnish side, everyone thinks Russia will be the first to attack NATO. Everyone is expecting an attack on NATO. This is how they justify this measure. on the finish side. And this is absolute nonsense. This is completely absurd. And I think it was important for me to point this all once I've been there and talk to the people there. By the way,

Karelia is a beautiful region with vibrant economy. People live actually very well there. I was impressed. I was there 20 years ago and I'm back now. I was in a town called Sorttavala, which is very near to the, very close to the border. And I saw how it grew and the difference. And yeah, that's what I wanted to point out. I know Finland very well. I know Helsinki very, very well. I have been astonished myself by what has happened.

And while I think that's very important, and I think perhaps one day we should do a program about it, about the whole relationship that's happened, and this is extraordinary change in the relations between Finland and Russia that has developed. And as somebody who was born, just a few weeks before the Berlin Wall was built, the idea that it is weak who are closing the borders

and the Russians who are keeping them open, that is absolutely the world turned upside down. As far as I'm concerned, I mean, you know, it's an unbelievable reversal. And you absolutely, I mean, what you describe, I know is true, but I know it, you know, from reading about it, somebody's actually been to the border. I think I'll be a very, very interesting program if we can do it.

Well, you know, thank you. I mean, you know, can I just say from our discussion, you're not just one of the very few more reporters that are there, but you're an absolutely outstanding war reporter because I have learned a huge amount from you over the course of this program and I think of yours will also. So I think, I think of you as well also. So I just want to say thank you. I wish that there were others doing the same thing as you, but I am very, very grateful to you for having done what you have done. And I am sure it is not an easy thing to do. I can imagine all kinds of problems. But we are all very, very much in your debt. I am, we are, and I'm sure our viewers will be. So thank you. Well, it's like they say, in Russian

and yes or so. It's nothing. But look, for me, it's an honor to be here. It's a great, great honor. I feel very humbled that a guy like me gets to be here talking to you. So I'm a big fan of your show and it keeps me, it keeps me company and it keeps me sane. Thank you. Well, thank you for those very kind, very generous words, but thank you again for coming. onto our program. I don't know, Alex, if you have. Jao, just once again, where can people follow you? So I'm a member of the multipolar TV. You can find us on YouTube. You can also find us on Instagram and Facebook. And my own channel is called Odemira Lever Geopolitics.

And it's also on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Those are the main channels. And, of course, I partner with a bunch of dozen of other channels. I can mention one which is one of the biggest, which is commander Farinazzo, is a Brazilian ex-military who also does a lot of commentary on geopolitical affairs, and we cooperate with them. So I'll be sending my material to all these channels who want to publish them. I don't want to have the ownership of any of this. My sole purpose is to do the ground job that it's not being done by the real professional journalist, so-called real professional. journalists and make this, make others, then use this material as they will. Free of charge, by the way.

I do this on my own money from my vacation of a job that I have in Portugal, and I'll keep doing it. Thank you, Zhao. I'll have all those links in the description box as well as a PIN comment. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Thank you.