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October 14, 2024: Yaroslav Trofimov, author, "Our Enemies Will Vanish"

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Today: Yaroslav Trofimov, author, “Our Enemies Will Vanish”

The war in Ukraine, begun in 2022 by Russia's invasion, has been defined in part by the use of digital technology: GPS, satellite internet, and especially drones. On this Techtonic, Yaroslav Trofimov discusses his book “Our Enemies Will Vanish: The Russian Invasion and Ukraine’s War of Independence.”

• Our Enemies Will Vanish: The Russian Invasion and Ukraine’s War of Independence, by Yaroslav Trofimov

• Yarotrof.com, Yaroslav Trofimov’s website

• 20 Days in Mariupol (documentary by Mstyslav Chernov, streaming on PBS, released Nov 2023)

• Review of “Rule of Two Walls,” a 2023 documentary about artists in Ukraine

• ‘Intercepted’ Review: A Portrait of the War in Ukraine Told Through Haunting Images and Soundscapes (Variety, Apr 12, 2024) – about a 2024 documentary playing intercepted phone calls of Russian soldiers in Ukraine

• How to help Ukraine: Hospitallers – see also hospitallers.life – "a Ukrainian volunteer organization providing crucial medical aid on the battlefield, facilitating the evacuation of the wounded, and assisting with their recovery."

• A.I. Begins Ushering In an Age of Killer Robots (by past Techtonic guest Paul Mozur and Adam Satariano, NYT, July 2, 2024): “What the companies are creating is technology that makes human judgment about targeting and firing increasingly tangential. The widespread availability of off-the-shelf devices, easy-to-design software, powerful automation algorithms and specialized artificial intelligence microchips has pushed a deadly innovation race into uncharted territory, fueling a potential new era of killer robots.”

• Slaughterbots (2017 short film) – see also the sequel

• Not Only for Killing: Drones Are Now Detecting Land Mines in Ukraine (NYT, Aug 24, 2024): “Ukraine is a beta test for embedding artificial intelligence and other new technologies in drones and robots to find deadly land mines, saving lives and allowing military forces to advance more quickly.”

• How Ukraine’s Naval Drones Turned the Tide in the Battle of the Black Sea (WSJ, June 25, 2024)

• Eric Schmidt Is Secretly Testing AI Military Drones In A Wealthy Silicon Valley Suburb (Forbes, June 6, 2024): “Over the past several months, White Stork has poached at least a dozen employees from Apple, SpaceX, Google, federal government agencies and the billionaire’s own philanthropic organization, Schmidt Futures, multiple sources told Forbes. Their expertise spans machine learning, aerospace, supply chains and procurement. These tactical hires have been accompanied by rank and file recruitment at universities and AI hackathons, some personally hosted by Schmidt himself.”

• Telegram has become a key tool for the Russian military (Meduza, Aug 28, 2024)

• Behind Ukraine’s Russia Invasion: Secrecy, Speed and Electronic Jamming (WSJ, Aug 17, 2024): “Led by electronic-warfare units that jammed Russian communications and drones, units from Ukraine’s strategic reserve swarmed across the border on Aug. 6, seizing what Kyiv has described as 82 towns and villages in Russia’s Kursk region.”

• House Speaker has no ‘appetite’ for more US support for Ukraine (Kyiv Independent, Oct 14, 2024): “U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Oct. 11 that he no longer has “an appetite for further Ukraine funding” and hopes that a November electoral victory for former U.S. President Donald Trump will bring a swift end to the war.”

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