Putin Tried to Make Russia GREAT... He Made NATO Stronger INSTEAD

The Military Show

Become a Member Today and Unlock EXCLUSIVE Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKfak8fBm_Lhy4eX9UKxEpA/join  In an interview with RBC-Ukraine, former CIA Director and four-star U.S. Army General David Petraeus delivered a blunt assessment of the war in Ukraine: Vladimir Putin set out to "make Russia great again," but succeeded only in "making NATO great again." With Russian casualties exceeding 1,000 per day—verified through Ukraine's video-backed Delta C2 system—and European NATO defense spending passing $574 billion, discover how Ukrainian defensive resilience and deep-strike interdiction are reshaping transatlantic security.  ⏱️ CHAPTERS: 00:00 - General David Petraeus' Assessment & The RBC-Ukraine Interview 02:45 - Frontline Dynamics: Operational Initiative & Incomprehensible Russian Losses 04:16 - The Middle Strike Campaign: Refinery Interdiction & Air Defense Degradation 07:26 - The Strategic Paradox: How Putin "Made NATO Great Again" 08:20 - Pre-Invasion Miscalculations: The 2014 Crimea Precedent 14:13 - European Rearmament: $574B Spending, Procurement, & New Accessions 15:29 - Structural Overhaul: Baltic Sentry, Maintenance Hubs, & Eastern Flank Hardening  Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMilitaryShow/join  #militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis #themilitaryshow  SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/wjg7g7Gg

Transcript

00:01In February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

00:07And while he publicly proclaimed that the purpose of his so-called special military operation was to denazify the Donbas,

00:14his real objective was to make Russia great again.

00:17To restore his country to the same sort of status he had seen and experienced firsthand as a young man

00:22growing up in the Soviet Union during the Cold War,

00:25when the entire world lived in fear of Moscow's military capabilities.

00:28Not content with ruling over the largest country on Earth, Putin wanted more.

00:33More land, more resources and more power.

00:37Power that would allow Russia to exert even more pressure, influence and intimidation across the world and especially against its

00:43NATO enemies.

00:44Now, more than four years into the war, Putin must be deeply regretting his decision.

00:49Not only has his army failed to achieve its objectives and his economy has been plunged into chaos,

00:55but its war has had the exact opposite effect he'd hoped for.

00:58It's made Russia weaker and NATO stronger than ever before.

01:02The alliance has been reinvigorated.

01:04Defense spending is reaching record highs.

01:07Two new members have signed up.

01:08And European nations are making military modernizations and border defenses their absolute top priorities.

01:14This is all an indirect end result of Putin's aggression.

01:17And that's not just the assessment of casual observers or war bloggers.

01:21It's the view of one of the most experienced and respected military minds on the planet today,

01:26David Petraeus, a former four-star US army general who once served as the head of both US Central Command

01:32and the CIA itself.

01:34Petraeus has dedicated his entire life to the military.

01:37And even now, in his retirement years, he continues to share the benefits of his unmatched wisdom and experience,

01:43speaking at conferences, councils and summits on the big issues of the day like the war in Ukraine.

01:48And he doesn't just share his views from the safety of the US.

01:52He's visited Ukraine on close to a dozen occasions since the war began,

01:55meeting with commanders and studying Ukrainian emerging technologies and autonomous weapons in person,

02:00sometimes putting his own life in peril in the process.

02:04Indeed, in mid-September 2026, the former CIA boss was at a Ukrainian train station

02:10when a Russian drone struck a passenger train just a short distance away.

02:14And it was during that same trip that Petraeus sat down with Ukrainian news agency RBC Ukraine

02:20for an in-depth interview about his views on how the war is going, which side has momentum

02:24and the bigger picture of how this conflict is shaping the wider world for generations to come.

02:29But before we get into what he said, if you want to stay informed and up to date

02:34on all of the latest big military news from Russia, Ukraine, Iran and beyond,

02:39become a member of the military show today.

02:41You'll enjoy instant access to a complete content catalogue,

02:44including exclusive reports about the latest military matters.

02:48Now, when asked for his view on which side, if any, holds the operational initiative at the front lines,

02:53General Petraeus's response was clear and concise.

02:56I think on the front, Ukraine has the initiative because Russia is unable to achieve what it set out to

03:01achieve.

03:02Contrary to Vladimir Putin's assertions that they're making great progress, this is just not the case.

03:07I think it's increasingly clear that Ukraine will deny the Russians their objectives for the spring and summer campaign.

03:13He went on to note that Russian forces haven't even managed to reach the fortified cities that they're so desperate

03:19to take

03:19and that Ukraine is so eager to hold on to, such as Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, but are barely even beginning

03:25to approach these locations.

03:27Adding to this, Petraeus highlighted the catastrophic losses that the Russians are enduring.

03:32Over a thousand killed and wounded per day for me is just incomprehensible, actually.

03:37He explained that despite all of his experience in places like Iraq and Afghanistan,

03:42even he cannot begin to fathom the sheer quantity of soldiers that Russia is losing on a daily basis,

03:47and data from throughout 2026 shows that Russia has been consistently losing more troops than it can realistically recruit to

03:53replace them each month.

03:54So again, these losses, these killed and wounded, a recent estimate was that for a single month it was over

04:0035,000.

04:02The overall killed and wounded sustained by the Russians now are over 1.5 million,

04:06which is more than the US sustained in all of World War II, to put this into context.

04:11And the crazy casualty rate is just one of many problems mounting up on Putin's desk.

04:16Petraeus adds that Ukraine may not be advancing or retaking vast swathes of territory at rapid rates,

04:22but it's achieving arguably a more important objective,

04:25of denying the Russians the achievement of the objective set out publicly by Vladimir Putin.

04:30He goes on to add that Ukraine quite clearly has the initiative in terms of cutting off Crimea

04:34with its middle strike campaign, wiping out hundreds of boats, tankers, ferries and barges

04:40that could have been used to resupply the peninsula,

04:42and striking every single Russian oil refinery within 3,000 kilometers at least once, many more than once.

04:48As a result, the entire country faces a catastrophic fuel crisis,

04:53can't export any refined fuel products like gasoline and diesel,

04:56and is forced to import refined fuel from other nations like Belarus and Kazakhstan just to keep the lights on.

05:02Petraeus also highlighted the importance of Ukraine taking out Russian air defenses and radar stations,

05:08forcing the Kremlin to reposition its remaining acids in order to keep its most important infrastructure safe,

05:14by opening up new gaps and corridors for drones and missiles in the process.

05:18Finally, he touched on the economic problems facing Putin,

05:22combined with growing levels of fatigue and frustration among the public as they face economic uncertainty,

05:28fuel shortages, a labor crisis and countless other challenges.

05:31In short, he feels that the momentum of the war is well and truly with Ukraine,

05:36with Kyiv's forces doing everything in their power to make Putin realize he simply cannot win.

05:41They're blocking Russia's battlefield progress, they're wiping out soldiers at record rates,

05:46they're taking air defenses, high-value assets and infrastructure off the map,

05:50and are compounding the many crises that the Russian president is supposed to solve,

05:55leaving him with more headaches, more problems and more questions than answers.

05:59However, the former four-star general also issued a clear warning,

06:03noting that Russia may soon attempt a mass mobilization in order to replenish its ranks

06:08and increase its intensity along the front lines,

06:10with potentially several hundred thousand new soldiers added to the Kremlin's army.

06:14While Petraeus isn't sure if this will bring the sweeping gains that Russia is hoping for,

06:19he admits that it could help Moscow move closer to achieving at least some of its goals.

06:24He adds that Russia's increasing usage of jet-powered Shahid drones is problematic,

06:28since these high-speed UAVs are more difficult to intercept with the traditional drone interceptors,

06:34before underscoring the threat of Russian missiles as well.

06:37They're hitting Ukraine hard with these, and in the past,

06:40these would have been intercepted at a higher percentage.

06:42Now, Ukraine has dwindling numbers of missile interceptors, and that's a big concern.

06:47Russia once again will try to turn off the lights and turn off the heat in Ukraine this winter.

06:51To ensure that Ukraine maintains its momentum,

06:54and doesn't give up valuable ground to Russia in the not-too-distant future,

06:58Petraeus calls on Western countries to do everything they can

07:01to help Ukraine with the areas in which there are vulnerabilities.

07:05Fortunately, Petraeus is confident that those countries will step up,

07:09as they've done consistently throughout the war so far,

07:11like the United States' enormous levels of support,

07:14particularly during the first two to three years of the conflict,

07:17and the fact that European countries and the EU Commission have stepped up since then,

07:21notably committing a €90 billion loan to Ukraine for 2026 and 2027.

07:27This leads to perhaps the most impactful soundbite of Petraeus's entire interview.

07:31While discussing the fact that Ukraine is, in effect, fighting NATO's war for it,

07:36by confronting the alliance's ultimate enemy, Vladimir Putin,

07:40the former CIA director came to a clear and obvious conclusion,

07:44a conclusion that will send shockwaves straight to the heart of the Kremlin itself.

07:48The whole reason NATO has been reinvigorated is because of Vladimir Putin.

07:52Putin set out to make Russia great again, and what he's really done is make NATO great again.

07:57In fact, he's even added two more countries to it.

08:00Putin can't simply laugh off those words as lies or Western propaganda,

08:04because unfortunately for him, Petraeus's assessment is painfully accurate and grounded in cold hard facts.

08:11But before we dig into those facts, this is why we make the military show,

08:15to explain how power really moves.

08:17If you're new here, hit subscribe so you don't miss what's next.

08:22Now, one of the reasons why Putin felt confident enough to invade Ukraine in the first place,

08:27was because he felt as though NATO wasn't strong enough,

08:30or more importantly, united enough to do anything about it.

08:33And he'd already tested the waters in 2014, when he ordered the illegal annexation of Crimea.

08:39He sent in his special forces to ruthlessly overthrow the region's government,

08:44installed his own puppets in their place,

08:46falsified a referendum, and claimed a large part of another country's territory as his own.

08:51And while the Western world and many NATO members condemned his actions,

08:54nobody actually stepped in to stop him in any major way.

08:58Putin likely believed that his full-scale invasion would play out in a similar way.

09:02It was a far larger operation, of course, and was likely to last much longer,

09:06and evolve more bloodshed than the quick and relatively clean takeover of Crimea.

09:10But the Russian president felt that his army was strong enough to achieve its objectives so efficiently,

09:15that the West, trapped in a state of hesitation, fear and uncertainty,

09:19wouldn't be able to stop them or even disrupt them.

09:21He envisioned a near future, in which Russia was even greater,

09:25with its brand new buffer zone extending into Ukraine,

09:28fresh territories to mine for resources,

09:30and a larger sphere of influence than ever before.

09:33Perhaps more importantly, he believed that his army was so strong,

09:36it would easily overwhelm Ukrainian resistance and prove to the world,

09:40once and for all, that it should fear the Kremlin's war machine.

09:43He effectively wanted to see NATO nations bend the knee.

09:47He wanted them frightened of Moscow, scared to antagonise the Kremlin in any way.

09:51Because if he could achieve that, then countries like Poland and the Baltic state

09:55would be fearful of even attempting any sort of border defence programmes or military modernisations.

10:01They'd continue to grow weaker while Russia grew stronger,

10:04which would, eventually, pave the way towards even greater gains

10:08if Putin decided to target a country like Latvia or Estonia,

10:12or form a land bridge through Lithuania to connect the Russian mainland

10:15with its exclave of Kaliningrad,

10:17or extend its presence in Moldova, to name but a few possible scenarios.

10:21He wanted these countries to be utterly unable to defend themselves,

10:25and he wanted NATO, as a whole, to become more divided and disparate,

10:29with the wealthy Western European nations continuing to spend only the bare minimum on defence,

10:34and the US growing increasingly disinterested in playing the role of Europe's bodyguard.

10:39As we know now, however, that's not at all what ended up happening.

10:42Instead, Russia's invasion was perhaps the biggest wake-up call in modern military history.

10:47It was the catalyst for a completely new era for NATO,

10:50an era in which members step up to the plate,

10:53accept the responsibilities that they've shied away from for years,

10:56increase their defence spending to record highs,

10:58and do everything in their power to become stronger,

11:00so that if Russia, or any other world power, dares to threaten their sovereignty,

11:05they'll be ready to defend themselves.

11:07None of this would have happened, had it not been for Putin.

11:10Even after Crimea, most NATO nations didn't really change their approach to defence spending or military matters.

11:16Many of them, particularly those further west like Germany, the United Kingdom and France,

11:21continued to live in their blissful bubbles,

11:23believing that the days of large-scale wars in Europe were over,

11:26that armies would never come to their doorstep and threaten their sovereignty ever again.

11:31For many NATO nations, war was simply something that happened in other parts of the world, far from them,

11:36and while they might play parts in those wars and step in to help their international allies,

11:41they didn't need to build massive armies of their own,

11:43or erect defences and barriers along their borders and coastlines,

11:47because they didn't fear the threat of invasion.

11:49It was a worry for others, but not for them.

11:52And so, had Putin left it at Crimea, and not gone ahead with his full-scale invasion,

11:58that status quo would almost surely have continued.

12:00Most NATO nations would have carried on spending less than 2% of their GDPs on their militaries,

12:06with the US taking on the lion's share of responsibility in terms of global defence and deterrence,

12:10and Russia could have quietly gone about its business,

12:13investing in new military technologies, developing new missiles,

12:16and building up towards an eventual war with a relatively weak NATO alliance.

12:20Instead, when NATO nations saw an entire army marching into Ukraine,

12:25when they saw cities being bombarded, civilians being slaughtered,

12:28missiles being fired into residential buildings, and schools and hospitals reduced to rubble,

12:33those images sent a collective jolt into the alliance,

12:36reinvigorating it in a way that had once seemed extremely unlikely, if not impossible.

12:41Almost immediately, NATO leaders came together to discuss their next steps.

12:46Realising that their alliance could be next and the Kremlin's crosshairs,

12:49they set aside differences, put the problems of the past behind them,

12:53and worked together to ensure that Ukraine had the money, the military equipment,

12:56and the backing it needed to not merely survive the war, but give Moscow the fight of its life.

13:01And they weren't alone.

13:03Mere months into the war, several countries that had long maintained military neutrality

13:07were eager to join the alliance, with Sweden and Finland filing their application papers in May 2022.

13:14Finland officially entered the alliance first in April 2023,

13:18while Sweden became the 32nd member in March 2024.

13:21Other nations have also expressed much more active interest in becoming part of NATO since the invasion began,

13:28such as Georgia and Bosnia and Herzegovina,

13:30and even those who aren't able to become members at the moment have still sought to strengthen ties, such as

13:35Moldova.

13:36None of these nations can necessarily be classed as major military superpowers,

13:41but they all bring something to the table and all help to make NATO a stronger force, on the whole,

13:45which is the exact opposite of what Putin wanted.

13:48And it's not just that NATO is broadening its base and building bonds with emerging allies,

13:53but the existing members have taken unprecedented strides towards making the alliance war-ready.

13:58A recent report from the Centre for European Reform, CER,

14:02found that European NATO nations, plus Canada,

14:05spent a whopping $574 billion on defence in 2025 alone.

14:10More than half of NATO nations are now also spending over 30% of their defence budgets on new equipment,

14:16which is way ahead of the NATO guideline of 20%,

14:18with EU NATO nations investing over 100 billion euros,

14:23$115 billion on equipment for the first time in 2024,

14:27with that figure rising to around 130 billion euros, or $150 billion in 2025.

14:33All NATO nations have also hit the 2% of GDP military spending goal,

14:38and many are moving closer to the 3% target, with some like Poland aiming far higher.

14:43More money spent means more equipment, more armour, more vehicles, more drones, artillery, air defences,

14:50border defences, military personnel, and everything else that's needed to fight a war in the 21st century.

14:55And while some euros inevitably go to waste on needless acquisitions or inefficient procurement projects,

15:01many countries are spending their funds wisely on assets and equipment that can make a real difference in any future

15:06conflict.

15:07They're looking at Ukraine and learning the lessons of what it's like to fight a war with Russia today,

15:12investing in the likes of unmanned systems, AI technologies, advanced air defences, and electronic warfare,

15:18so if and when an invasion comes, they won't be caught off guard.

15:22But spending money is arguably the easy part.

15:25The CER report also notes that NATO nations have to do more to solve the problems that have plagued Europe

15:30for years,

15:31such as maintenance backlogs, spare parts shortages, insufficient munition stocks,

15:36shortages of trained personnel, and inadequate infrastructure.

15:39The exact weaknesses that Putin has known about for years and would have sought to exploit,

15:44if and when he chose to attack the alliance.

15:46Thankfully, steps are being taken to address every single one of them.

15:50Countries like Germany and the Netherlands are tackling maintenance and readiness backlogs

15:54by partnering with American companies to start making more of their own missiles

15:58and building new production plants and maintenance hubs, for example.

16:02Much more is being spent on munitions production, too,

16:05as Europe attempts to build the vast stockpiles of bombs, missiles, and interceptors it would need

16:10in order to deal with Russia's immense aerial threats.

16:13Many countries are also exploring an array of methods to get more people engaged with their militaries,

16:17including voluntary service incentives, more modern draft systems, and expanding reserve pools.

16:23Germany has introduced a new scheme to offer bigger salaries and better benefits for military members, for example,

16:29while Poland has launched a program to train civilians in essential survival, first aid, and crisis management skills.

16:36Many countries, particularly those with smaller budgets, are also investing in cheaper unmanned systems

16:41and affordable modular military equipment that will allow them to generate mass and rapidly expand their military capacities

16:47without having to spend small fortunes on world-beating tanks and fancy fighter jets.

16:52Then, there are initiatives like Baltic Sentry to guard critical undersea infrastructure

16:57and Operation Eastern Sentry to strengthen NATO's eastern flank,

17:01with many nations also streamlining customs processes, slashing red tape,

17:05and combating the kinds of administrative bottlenecks and bureaucracy that have in the past

17:10led to European military programs being unnecessarily slow to progress.

17:14From modernizing bridges, highways, and airports, to strengthening cyber-defensives,

17:20European NATO nations are leaving no stone unturned in their quest to prepare for a possible war with Russia.

17:26There's still plenty of work to be done, there are still challenges to solve and hurdles to overcome,

17:31but the continent and the broader NATO alliance are moving in the right direction,

17:35and it's giving Russia more and more to worry about with every passing week.

17:39Putin began this war hoping to flex his military muscle and frighten the Western security system.

17:45Instead, the conflict has absolutely exposed Russia's limitations and roused Europe from a decades-long slumber,

17:51forcing the continent to confront weaknesses it ignored for years and build the sort of strength it will need for

17:57whatever comes next.

17:58Now, you can learn more about how NATO is taking steps to counter Russian aggression in this video,

18:04or discover how the alliance's newest members, Sweden and Finland,

18:07recently joined forces to bolster their borders in this video.

18:11And finally, don't forget to subscribe to the military show to make sure you don't miss out on more content

18:15like this,

18:16and consider becoming a member for instant access to all of our exclusive reports.

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