Russia-Ukraine War: Putin, Zelenskyy, Trump and the Future of Warfare | Lex Fridman Podcast #504
Preston Stewart is a West Point graduate and Afghanistan veteran who covers the Ukraine war extensively on his YouTube channel, his podcast called War and Conflict, and his newsletter called Defense Tech News. Michael Kofman is a world-class military analyst specializing in the Russian and Ukrainian militaries. He is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment and he hosts The Russia Contingency podcast on the War on the Rocks platform.
Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep504-sb
See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.
*Transcript:*
https://lexfridman.com/preston-stewart-michael-kofman-transcript
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*EPISODE LINKS:*
Michael’s X: https://x.com/KofmanMichael
Michael’s Podcast: https://warontherocks.com/premium/therussiacontingency/
Preston’s YouTube: https://youtube.com/@prestonstewart
Preston’s X: https://x.com/prestonstew_
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*OUTLINE:*
0:00 – Introduction
1:00 – State of the war in Ukraine
14:39 – Drone warfare and the kill zone
51:49 – Who is winning the war?
1:03:26 – Military analysis of Russia’s 2022 invasion
1:19:14 – Battle of Bakhmut
1:34:56 – War optimism and bad information
1:55:05 – Prigozhin’s mutiny
2:09:20 – Putin vs Zelenskyy
2:27:18 – Trump
2:36:13 – Paths to peace in Ukraine
2:46:53 – Nature of war
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@lexfridman
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep504-sa
See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc.
0:00 – Introduction
1:00 – State of the war in Ukraine
14:39 – Drone warfare and the kill zone
51:49 – Who is winning the war?
1:03:26 – Military analysis of Russia's 2022 invasion
1:19:14 – Battle of Bakhmut
1:34:56 – War optimism and bad information
1:55:05 – Prigozhin's mutiny
2:09:20 – Putin vs Zelenskyy
2:27:18 – Trump
2:36:13 – Paths to peace in Ukraine
2:46:53 – Nature of war
Transcript:
https://lexfridman.com/preston-stewart-michael-kofman-transcript
CONTACT LEX:
Feedback – give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey
AMA – submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama
Hiring – join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring
Other – other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact
EPISODE LINKS:
Michael's X: https://x.com/KofmanMichael
Michael's Podcast: https://warontherocks.com/premium/therussiacontingency/
Preston's YouTube: https://youtube.com/@prestonstewart
Preston's X: https://x.com/prestonstew_
SPONSORS:
To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts:
GiveDirectly: Direct donations to people living in extreme poverty.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/givedirectly-ep504-sa
Fin: AI agent for customer service.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/fin-ep504-sa
LMNT: Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/lmnt-ep504-sa
Wispr Flow: AI-powered voice dictation app.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/wispr_flow-ep504-sa
Shop: Turns any AI agent into your personal shopper.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/shop-ep504-sa
Perplexity: AI-powered answer engine.
Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/perplexity-ep504-sa
@thunderstorm6630
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
EU here: no we are not looking to the us for leadership, in fact we are quite annoyed of trump and maga, you guys will never ever be a trusted ally again, those times are over
@DariuszMorses
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
Please Russian speak
@Bubble998Grunge
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
I appreciate the call out about the nonexistence of the “operational level of war”
@analystfromoz
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
The main issue is that Russia hasn’t changed for several centuries. No progress. The west has moved on, Russia stayed barbaric and backwards and never developed into any sophisticated kind of thinking. No hope it will change. It’s a backward culture (not sure culture is even the right word).
@iitzkryy9599
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
Love the post production.
@roaminromer
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
great job, excellent interview.
@sereda69
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
It is not Russia- Ukraine war. It is China – USA war
@sebbaninho
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
Go ukraina
@CastleBomb44
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
9:30 that map is so awesome!
@sixfiddysyndicate
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
Big shout out to whoever worked on creating the visual models for this video
@Eliteownage
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
much love all
@bryananderson3772
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
Has the United States started making mass quantities of lower cost drones?
@Олегпетров-г9з
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
Ребята привет ! А сделайте русский дубляж пожалуйста
@LisaScher4u
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
A gen Z army of drone operators.
@phaedrus_7f4
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
@lexfridman Well… as a Ukrainian, I'd like to say thank you for trying to explain what is going on there. But I hope you're aware that everything that was said about Ukraine was… a bit too flattering, I'd say. I'd like people outside Ukraine to know how mobilisation is actually carried out, or about Krynky, where the Ukrainian side also used "meat assaults."
@Dieselboater582
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
Absolutely awesome topic, guests and questions, Lex! The nature of warfare has changed, is changing fast and promises to make things even more grim and deadly! God help us if AI takes humans out of the loop…
— and yes, video gaming does have a strong vibe and relevance here! 😮
@Johnson13210
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
This was a great conversation.
Regarding Putin, I believe a man that is willing to throw away so many Russian Soldiers for little to no gain. What greater atrocities is he capable of?
This is a question knowone can answer, but I have a feeling we are all going to find out.
@Moto_Medics
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
I haven’t been here in a long time since when do you have awesome graphics 😅
@jasonthillman5852
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
Great episode!
@Имя-к6й9н
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
28:43
strange to hear about any “question of culture” of using the troops/ losses when people are being caught on the city streets or tortured in the basements 😮
@RCR7719
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
This is a great discussion but I do not agree that we should have maintained the old NATO / EU centric defense perspective.
@kevinthree
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
Great interview. The number of commercials is almost unbearable. I hate watch YouTube with my finger hovering over the skip button- but it necessary now.
@ouroboros1913
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
Viva Russia!
@Irene-g2
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
Its not the humanity that starts the war. it's the usa deepstate . I wouldnt mention being successful in Afganistan, since most people saw you and your proxis courageously flee home unlike the Soviet army
@t5721
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
Где перевод
@tremor3197
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
I like the American perspective on the world—sometimes it doesn’t extend any further than the nearest desk 😜
@hiranchbuff
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
Blast Trump all you want. Much of it is deserved. But how many more hundreds of thousands of lives is worth a few hundred square miles of territory? Trump may be a buffoon, but I see nothing buffoonish about trying to stop another European land war that's costing thousands of lives every month.
@VicharB
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
Wishful thinkers, blind to the truth and the facts. Thanks to the west and the dump elites of Ukraine, the country is edging closer to being a rump state, if not already. Well presented video, kudos.
@ArturAwesome
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
Very informative, great guests.
@tabletaccountforyoutube
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
Hey, could we get an AI voice audio track with multi languages?
@Lukas-t9y9w
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
Every country has its mafia. Russia is the exception: there, the mafia has its own country.
@DEEPENIMYLIFE
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
Thank you so much for that conversation.
@AllenGraetz
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
Can we end this idea of joint production? It's not something the Lockheed & others want to do. Even if they did, key components will not be made in Ukraine and they can not easily be sped up. And to ad to it, what we need is the next generation, or at least next half version that's easier to produce so they can be cranked out in the numbers needed at a cost that's doable.
We need to be producing 500+ PAC missiles / month — not the current 50 — just to keep up with Russian ballistic and cruise missile production. Even faster to replenish inventories.
@tot_ra
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
45:18 he looks excited
@AllenGraetz
November 13, 2026 at 12:38 am
" The World is looking to us…" ~Preston
The Global South has a thousand different problems on their hands that they are far, far, FAR more focused on than some distant spat in The Boderlands on the other side of the globe from them. Let's not be so Eurocentric.