FDD's Foreign Podicy Back from the Front
Mar 28, 2026
Mark Montgomery, retired Rear Admiral offering frontline military reporting from Ukraine, Lithuania, and Bulgaria. Daniel Vaynshteyn, congressional relations expert with personal ties to Ukraine. They discuss Russian hybrid warfare tactics, the current battlefront and Ukrainian resilience, weapons and funding needs, drone warfare lessons, Russia's internal dissent, and shifting international partnerships.
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How Russia Weaponizes Migration
- Russia increasingly uses hybrid warfare like weaponized migration, election interference, cyber sabotage, and chemical poisoning to destabilize neighbors.
- Mark Montgomery described Belarus moving 20–30,000 migrants to Lithuania's fence timed for local elections to spark backlash and boost pro-Russian parties.
Why Ukraine Is Not Going To Lose
- Ukraine will not lose because of deep military and civilian resilience despite static frontline gains.
- Montgomery noted Ukrainians endure 700+ daily drone/missile attacks, recover quickly, and maintain entrepreneurship and leadership in brigades.
Abductions Signal Genocidal Intent
- Russian war aims include cultural erasure, not just territorial conquest, evidenced by church destruction and child abductions.
- Cliff May and Mark Montgomery argued kidnappings and forced reeducation point to genocidal intent to wipe Ukrainian identity.
