Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
"On pretty much every measure, Putin is failing and he doesn't really have a lot of options moving forward."
Russia is losing ground, its defence industry has plateaued, and Ukraine is striking deeper into Russian territory than at any point in the war. So what does that mean for how the conflict ends — and what can Australia learn from the battlefields of Europe and the Middle East?
Lowy Institute Senior Fellow for Military Studies Mick Ryan joins International Security Program Director Sam Roggeveen to assess the shifting momentum in the Ukraine war, the emergence of a new theory of offensive operations, and why Western militaries — Australia included — are failing to absorb the lessons of modern warfare.
Mick's latest Lowy Institute analysis paper, Modern war and the systemic learning deficit in Western military institutions, is available free on our website.
"On pretty much every measure, Putin is failing and he doesn't really have a lot of options moving forward."
Russia is losing ground, its defence industry has plateaued, and Ukraine is striking deeper into Russian territory than at any point in the war. So what does that mean for how the conflict ends — and what can Australia learn from the battlefields of Europe and the Middle East?
Lowy Institute Senior Fellow for Military Studies Mick Ryan joins International Security Program Director Sam Roggeveen to assess the shifting momentum in the Ukraine war, the emergence of a new theory of offensive operations, and why Western militaries — Australia included — are failing to absorb the lessons of modern warfare.
Mick's latest Lowy Institute analysis paper, Modern war and the systemic learning deficit in Western military institutions, is available free on our website.
