Yuriy Matsarsky is a Ukrainian journalist turned civilian fighter against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since the incursion began, he’s been keeping the world updated with events as they happen as the host of the daily podcast Fighting for Ukraine.
What We Discuss with Yuriy Matsarsky:
- Why did Yuriy — and so many of his civilian countrymen and women — turn in the tools of their trades for assault rifles to defend their homeland against the professional army tasked with invading it?
- Why Yuriy considers these Russian invaders more heartless and brutal against civilians — including women and children — than even ISIS terrorists he’s encountered in war zones.
- What Yuriy hopes Westerners come to understand about this conflict sooner rather than later that often gets missed by mainstream media.
- What day-to-day life and overall morale are like for Ukrainian defenders, and how Yuriy sees this conflict ultimately playing out.
- Short of picking up a rifle and heading to Kyiv, what can you do to help Yuriy and his fellow defenders keep resisting the advances of their uninvited neighbors?
- And much more…
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As a journalist, Ukraine native Yuriy Matsarsky has covered areas of conflict around the world, including Iraq, Syria, and the Gaza Strip. Now, thanks to Russia’s tyrannical Vladimir Putin making the call to invade Ukraine, Yuriy finds his own homeland a battleground. And just like countless other citizens of this besieged nation who hail from every background imaginable, he’s answered the call to defend it. And while an assault rifle is his tool of trade at the moment, Yuriy hasn’t completely dropped his journalism baton as he shares daily reports of what’s happening on the ground through his podcast, Fighting for Ukraine.
In this episode, Yuriy gives us a glimpse of what the war effort looks like from the literal trenches of Kyiv. We’ll discover what the Ukrainian people are enduring right now — from the soldiers to the average citizens who persevere against a ceaseless assault on their homes, families, and very lives. And if you’re wondering how you can help the people of Ukraine from afar, we’ve linked some Yuriy-approved charities in the resources below.
Please Scroll Down for Featured Resources and Transcript!
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Miss our interview with Read & Riot: A Pussy Riot Guide to Activism author Nadya Tolokonnikova? Catch up with episode 118: Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova | How to Read and Riot here!
On the Edge is a podcast that brings you along when award-winning BBC journalist Andrew Gold interviews celebrities and quirky outsiders — from a Mormon psychopath to a man who once had to eat his friends. Oh, and Jordan! Listen here or wherever you enjoy your podcasts!
Thanks, Yuriy Matsarsky!
Click here to let Jordan know about your number one takeaway from this episode!
And if you want us to answer your questions on one of our upcoming weekly Feedback Friday episodes, drop us a line at friday@jordanharbinger.com.
Resources from This Episode:
- Fighting For Ukraine with Yuriy Matsarsky
- Yuriy’s GoFundMe for His Family
- Yuriy Matsarsky | Facebook
- Show Support for the Kyiv Declaration
- DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal | British Red Cross
- Donate | Voices of Children
- Donate | Save the Children UK
- Donate | Revived Soldiers Ukraine
- Why a Ukrainian Journalist Traded His Laptop for a Rifle: An Exclusive Qwoted Interview | Qwoted
- The West Knows the Cost of Appeasement. We Can’t Rule Out Any Option for Stopping Putin | The Guardian
- Vladimir Putin’s Medieval Mindset | Quillette
- Moscow Turns US Volunteers Into New Bogeyman in Ukraine | FP
- Russia’s Armed Forces Are Suffering Substantial Losses in Ukraine | The Economist
- The Language of Russia’s War on Ukraine | FP
- Easy Palyanitsya Recipe | Something For Tea
- What Do Russians Think About Putin’s War? | CEPA
- Elon Musk’s SpaceX Sent Ukraine Starlink Satellites. Does the Country Need Them? | Vox
- The Clever Way Zelensky Changed His Message to America | Slate
- Opinion: Koch, Halliburton, Subway, Others Fund Putin’s Ukraine War. Boycott Them. | The Washington Post
- Srdja Popovic | Blueprint for Revolution | Jordan Harbinger
- Downfall | Prime Video
- As Russian Troop Deaths Climb, Morale May Be an Issue | The New York Times
- 3 Ways Russia Has Shown Military ‘Incompetence’ During Its Invasion of Ukraine | The Conversation
- How a Far-Right Battalion Became a Part of Ukraine’s National Guard | Vice
638: Yuriy Matsarsky | Fighting for Ukraine
[00:00:00] Jordan Harbinger: Coming up next on The Jordan Harbinger Show.
[00:00:02] Yuriy Matsarsky: Is there any point in negotiation with Putin? I said, "You know what's like for Jewish people during the '40s, previous century, to negotiate with Hitler? We don't have some kind of points that they both accept it, Hitler and Jewish people. So we are in the same position. He wants to live, he wants us to die — That's all."
[00:00:22] Jordan Harbinger: Welcome to the show. I'm Jordan Harbinger. On The Jordan Harbinger Show, we decode the stories, secrets, and skills of the world's most fascinating people. We have in-depth conversations with scientists, entrepreneurs, spies, psychologists, even the occasional money-laundering expert, former Jihadi, or tech mogul. Each episode turns our guests' wisdom into practical advice that you can use to build a deeper understanding of how the world works and become a better critical.
[00:00:51] If you're new to the show, or you're looking for a handy way to tell your friends about it, I suggest our episode starter packs. These are collections of our favorite episodes, organized by topic. That'll help new listeners get a taste of everything we do here on the show, topics like persuasion and influence, disinformation and cyber warfare, Vladimir Putin, abnormal psychology, China, North Korea. Just visit jordanharbinger.com/start or take a look in your Spotify app to get started.
[00:01:18] When I tracked down today's guest, he said, "Things around me are changing really fast. I don't know where I'll be next week or whether I'll be alive at all. So it's better to talk as soon as possible." We also needed to do it during the day in Kyiv because Yuriy's video doesn't work at night. Since if they use any lights, the Russians will shell their position. So here we are at the crack of dawn on a Sunday doing the show here.
[00:01:41] Yuriy is a soldier in Kyiv, Ukraine fighting in the conflict against the Russian military. We don't use this full name here in case the Russian military and intelligence services are looking for him and other people like him who are spreading the message. It's clear from news reports that no one is safe in Ukraine right now. In this episode, we'll take a glimpse at the war effort, right at the ground, literally the trench level here, what Ukrainians in the streets of Kyiv are thinking and saying, and see a snapshot of a soldier's daily life during this war. Not knowing what's coming next or whether they'll live to fight another day.
[00:02:13] I've been haunted by this interview since doing it. I hope you find it as interesting and informative as I did. And of course, all ad revenue from this episode will be donated to help support the people of Ukraine. Here's Yuriy.
[00:02:26] When we started planning this, we're doing this at like 7:00 a.m. on a Sunday, because when I texted you asking him to do the show, you told me you might not be alive to do this later. Is that really how you feel these days?
[00:02:39] Yuriy Matsarsky: Yeah, and I think it's not only my feeling. You know, there is no safe place in Ukraine because every inch of Ukraine soil, every town, every city, and every village is vulnerable for Russian rockets, for Russian artillery. Even today, one of the Westernmost regions of Ukraine, the Kyiv region was hit by a Russian rocket. There are more than 30 depths on a field where some kind of aid, which is coming from European countries from Western countries, was collected and later sent into central part of Ukraine or eastern part of the Ukraine. So every inch of my homelands, every inch of Ukraine is vulnerable to Russian attacks. So nobody is safe here. Nobody is protected from Russian missiles or from Russian artillery barrages.
[00:03:32] Jordan Harbinger: You started as a war journalist, right? You've seen war firsthand before you've seen bad times, but you thought you could probably just leave on a flight from Syria and come back home and the bad times would be over there. But now the bad times are in your own neighbors.
[00:03:45] Yuriy Matsarsky: You know, when the war started, I was woke up by rockets, which were intercepted by Ukrainian anti-missile system right under the roof of the house I lived. It was five o'clock in the morning. I think for all the Ukrainians, it was the most treacherous and the most covertly war because, you know, they started to bomb peaceful towns and cities, not the military bases. They started bombing and shelling the civil district. And the most victims of the war still, it's ordinary civilian people, not for militaries, not for officers or soldiers. So the war started for me at five o'clock as for any other Ukrainians, because it was started all over Central and Eastern Ukraine. It's not just one spontaneous attack on Kyiv, no. It was a lot of rockets and a lot of bombs falling on a lot of buildings, all over central and eastern part of Ukraine.
[00:04:41] So the first day of war was really, really hard for me because I decided whether I need to go to my work and I need to make my radio show and I need to tell people what's going on. But for me, it was hardest day of my life. But when I finished my job and I went home when I was underground, even in subway, even in train, you can listen, you can hear the bombs and rockets which were falling on your city. So I decided whether I must join Territorial Defense Units, but I must join the army and to protect my homeland, to protect my loved one, to protect our nation, and to protect our freedom.
[00:05:19] So when I came back home, I took my journalist helmet. There were huge white letters press on it. And I took my daughter's black marker and I painted all these white letters with black into a war helmet — reinventing myself from a journalist to soldier. The next day I came to one of the headquarters of Territorial Defense Units, signed the contract. No salary. I have no any money from army, no salary, only food and the shelter. So I signed this contract. I took assault rifle and came to my platoon. And for more than two weeks, I'm a soldier.
[00:06:00] Jordan Harbinger: Wow. That's quite a transition. I think when they make the movie about you, they're going to have that scene with you, painting your press helmet over with the black marker. That's quite a visual, man. And your Territorial Defense Units, are there ranks or is everyone just kind of grouped together?
[00:06:15] Yuriy Matsarsky: You know, our units, Territorial Defense Units were all men by volunteers. So all the people around me and all the people in other Territorial Defense Units are all civilians. So if you want to you still can wear civilian clothes or put on your civil boots. Even in these conditions, we are real army already because we have the assault guns. I have ammo in all my pockets or almost in all my pockets. The guy who is in a position near me, he's really a young guy and he was a programmer or some kind of IT guy. And now he's in charge of grenade launcher or RPG. So he has not only assault rifle, he got also an RPG and a bag full of grenades for RPG. We are not sitting on the barracks and waiting for Russians to come. No, we are working on checkpoints. We are patrolling the streets. Sometimes we are going to shooting range to shoot on targets and to practice in some kind of military thing. So it's real army, but you know, it's real army in evolution.
[00:07:24] Jordan Harbinger: Yeah. The airplane is being built on the way down from the sound of it. Unbelievable. Did you essentially just wait in line to get a Kalashnikov one day? Was it like, okay, I'm joining the army? You said you signed a contract. Is it like you sign and then here's your stuff?
[00:07:40] Yuriy Matsarsky: Yeah. I just signed it. I showed guys from headquarters my Ukrainian ID. I've signed this contract. I wrote down my name, my address, my phone number, and in an hour or in an hour and a half, they gave me assault rifle and a few dozens of ammo for assault rifle. And the guy instructed the people who never have any deals with guns in their lives, how to maintain it, how to load it, how to reload it, and how to use it.
[00:08:12] Jordan Harbinger: Wow.
[00:08:12] Yuriy Matsarsky: It was about maybe 15 minutes or half an hour.
[00:08:15] Jordan Harbinger: Oh my goodness. Wow. Are you originally from Kyiv? Is this your hometown?
[00:08:20] Yuriy Matsarsky: No. I was born in Kharkiv.
[00:08:22] Jordan Harbinger: Okay.
[00:08:22] Yuriy Matsarsky: It was second-largest city of Ukraine. It is one of the cities which is suffering right now. Most of our cities, it was a lot of rockets and artillery barrages fell on my city and still falling on my city. My parents were in Kharkiv when the war started and they've been there for a week, last days, like few days without any electricity, without water, without heat, without food. Tens of thousands of people in Ukraine, in such dire conditions without medicines, without water, without food, without electricity, were hiding somewhere in the basement if they have time to get to the basement. So lucky for me and for my parents, they have managed to evacuate from Kharkiv after few grad rockets got into the house, which why they left.
[00:09:16] Jordan Harbinger: Wow. So rockets hit your house. They actually hit your parents' house.
[00:09:20] Yuriy Matsarsky: Yeah. Yeah. It's a part of building. We have a flat in this building. Lucky for us, lucky for them grad rockets did not hit this flat, but when rockets hit at the building and almost completely destroyed two or four buildings close to my parents' flat.
[00:09:37] Jordan Harbinger: Wow. That's so terrifying. That's unbelieving. Did you expect this from Russia? I mean, of course, when the military was building up around the border, it became obvious, but was it a surprise for people in Ukraine that Russia was trying to retake the country?
[00:09:51] Yuriy Matsarsky: I think a lot of people here, we are preparing for it. Friends of mine, even my peers, my relatives, they were preparing for like this. They were making papers for buying guns and they are collecting ammo in the houses. Some people make some food preparations, you know, buying, canned meet or canned beans. And some people try to buy as much fuel and to storage it in some kind of garages, and even in their flats, waiting for Russians to come but for a lot of people like this, it was completely surprised.
[00:10:28] I can tell, that myself, that I myself was not waiting for it, but it was complete surprise for me, but the scale of attack and the brutality of the Russians, what they're doing right now, they are targeting and still targeting civilian, districts and schools and hospitals. That kind of brutality, this is surprisingly for me. Because, you know, I was telling to one of the journalists that I was working in Iraq during the Mosul offensive when the international community and local fighters were freeing or liberating Mosul from ISIS. So I saw a lot of people fleeing, a lot of ordinary civilian people fleeing Mosul and its surroundings, even guys from ISIS, even these terrorists, even with these Jihadists would let people out of Mosul and out of suburbs of Mosul.
[00:11:18] But Russians, they were worse when ISIS. They are not only used these people as shields, trying to hide under this shield from Ukrainian fire. But also, they are sieging cities like Mariupol, starving people in a basement to death or just targeting them by artillery fire. They know for sure, you can see, you can watch fresh videos from Mariupol.
[00:11:43] For example, you can see with tanks and bombs from planes were targeting the buildings, the flats, the houses, not the military facilities, not Ukrainian tanks, for sure, they're targeting first of all, the civilians, that's why I said much worse, even when ISIS.
[00:12:00] Jordan Harbinger: That's unbelievable. I mean, that's really, really something else. I didn't know that ISIS was letting people out of those cities as well. I guess, I wasn't really focused on that, but it's just unbelievable that the Russians are focused on civilians deliberately. It just seems totally unnecessary to me. What do you wish the world, especially the west or Americans understood about this conflict that maybe isn't getting through on mainstream media? Because there is a lot of coverage, but maybe there's some gaps that you see.
[00:12:28] Yuriy Matsarsky: I see, you know, it's totally misunderstanding that this war is not a war against the Ukraine only. And if you can take any history book about the Second World War, when Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia, a lot of people in the Western world, including the governments of great powers of that time where it would be not for Hitler took Czechoslovakia or Poland, for example, he will be, you know, satisfied with it. No, it will not. And of course, you can defeat us or a revolt will be next. So it's time to stand together. It's time to stand for a freedom for a democracy. This is a war against humanity in Western view.
[00:13:08] Putin's Russia, it's completely against all the rules of modern world, all the values of a democratic world. So we don't pass to exist. I mean, the Ukrainians, we really don't want us to exist. In Putin's mind, Ukrainians are some kind of misguided Russian people who image themselves as a separate nation. No, it's not. We are separate nation. We don't want to be Russians. We want to have our homelands. We want to have our language, our culture, and our freedom. And we don't want to be a part of his bloody Russian world. But also he wants you to be much less free than you are now. He wants you to accept him as one of the leading powers of the world. So this is not only our war, it's the war overall free people against what people who hates freedom most.
[00:14:01] Jordan Harbinger: Yeah. It certainly does seem that way. And I know that there's a lot of debate over this, whether he'll stop at Ukraine or whether this is something that's just the beginning of something else, although to your people of Ukraine's credit, it doesn't seem to be going so well for him. I think he thought this would be a weekend adventure, and now it looks like he's probably going to be looking for a way out that doesn't make him look weak. What do you think?
[00:14:24] Yuriy Matsarsky: You know, I think it's in the Russian tradition. Since the Second World War, nobody in Moscow, nobody in Russian government even try to count how many casualities they have. So they just gave an order. "We need to take Kharkiv or we need to take Kyiv. So we will send the wave after wave," not even, you know, looking how many died during this offensive. And we have a lot of people, you know, and they have really, really a lot of people in Russia, which are ready to be sent, which are ready to kill Ukrainians, which are ready to target civilians. So of course, we will fight them back. Of course, as much as we can do, we will do it, you know, but I think it's time for west countries to do a little bit more than they have already done.
[00:15:09] Jordan Harbinger: Yeah. What do you think of the response of the world community? It sounds like obviously lacking a little bit. What about these foreign fighters coming in? What do you think about things like that?
[00:15:19] Yuriy Matsarsky: Yeah, these guys who are real heroes. Because these guys were forced people over west, with east too, who understood what is going on and can tell you that this is a war against humanity, but this is a war for democracy, democratic values, as I told you. So I really appreciate this. I want to thank them all. As I know these guys from Georgia, from United States, from Poland. They were really brave persons and were really hitting hard the Russians close to Kyiv. We have a few rockets, including tanks, including armored cars and so on.
[00:15:55] Jordan Harbinger: What's your opinion in the lack of a no-fly zone? Do you understand that Western countries are concerned that this could escalate things with Russia? Or do you just think that's kind of a bullsh*t rationale that's going to get more people killed?
[00:16:07] Yuriy Matsarsky: You know, it's really a complicated question. First of all, I can understand the fears of a Western world. I can understand that Biden or Boris Johnson or any other leader of the free world really don't want to be involved in a field of world war. But one thing, we cannot buy peace when we are not helping Ukraine with all the power we can give. We don't buy peace with just buy some time. Sooner or later, we will face Russians in a battlefield in some way or another. So it's better, either you join the fight, we already in this fight until the end and the less people will die during this fight. It's time for them to decide. It's time for them to take a real stand, to join us in our fight against this bloody horde.
[00:16:58] Jordan Harbinger: What do Ukraine need from American or foreign citizens that's immediately actionable and doesn't involve the government? What can people listening to this do to help? Is there anything?
[00:17:08] Yuriy Matsarsky: We really appreciate it for all people in the Western world and the United States and Europe and Japan, and any other countries for your help via receiving tons of aid from all over the world. For example, there are few trucks today came to Kyiv with clothes, boots, gloves, and so on. From Spain and Portugal. Really, I'm not joking. I really appreciated for all of these people because we don't have malls right now open. We don't have shops open. So this help it's really, really a big thing for us, any kind of help, socks, jackets, boots, even some kind of can of peas or something like this. All of this help is really, really, really, really, really needed things, but help from ordinary people, it's enough for us. I really, really appreciate all the folks who send us money or who sends us clothes, food, and so on, and so on. It's time, not for an ordinary people, you know, to intervene, it's time for statesman, for governments, for big military corporations to intervene in this conflict, in this war.
[00:18:17] Jordan Harbinger: You're listening to The Jordan Harbinger Show with our guest Yuriy in Ukraine. We'll be right back.
[00:18:23] This episode is sponsored in part by Better Help online therapy. Relationships take work. We'll go out of our way to treat other people well. But how often do we give ourselves the same treatment? I invest in myself by hiring a trainer during the week. Gabriel and I have voice coaching once a week. I keep up with regular checkups at the doctors, natch. And as I often remind you, taking care of your mental health is just as, if not more important. You are your greatest asset. So invest the time and effort into yourself that obviously includes your mental health. Better Help is online therapy that offers video phone, even live chat sessions with your therapist in the convenience of your own home or wherever. Rather than waiting weeks to get booked with a therapist, get matched with a Better Help therapist in under 48 hours. And if you don't jive with your therapist, no problem, get matched with another one. No additional charge. Over two million people have used Better Help online therapy, and I highly recommend you check it out as well.
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[00:19:22] Jordan Harbinger: This episode is also sponsored by Athletic Greens. Athletic Greens is a product I use literally every day. I just had a shake this morning. I started taking Athletic Greens because, I don't know, does anyone eat enough vegetables? No, the answer is always no. I bring Athletic Greens with me when I travel as well. You know, when you're like on the road and all you have is burgers the whole time and Diet Coke instead of water. Yeah. Athletic Greens is a kind of a feel good, maybe the only healthy thing I'm consuming that day kind of thing. It's a lifestyle friendly. If you eat keto, paleo, vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, all of the above, you can fit this in there. It contains less than a gram of sugar. There's no GMOs, nasty chemicals, artificial stuff, and it tastes pretty dang good. It's the one thing with the best things. They use the best of the best. My friend is the founder of this company. He's obsessed with like making sure everything is legit and third-party tested. So, you know, I put my trust behind him and behind them for that reason. And a lot of people take a multivitamin, you got to choose one with high quality ingredients and Athletic Greens really does that. It's powder. It's not like a chunk, you just, you know, pop out.
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[00:21:23] Now back to Yuriy in Ukraine.
[00:21:27] How is your peer group reacting? You know, was anybody around you that was, maybe a guy your age, not going to sign up for the military? Was anybody like, "You know what, screw this, I'm out of here," that you know of?
[00:21:38] Yuriy Matsarsky: I have a few friends of mine who went at first days of war, who went to leave their kids and leave their wives to the western part of Ukraine. They went to hide with their wives and kids from the rockets and from the artillery barrages. But for last week, they're trying to get back to Kyiv and to join the Territorial Defense Forces, because we don't want to join local territorial defense forces somewhere in Lviv or one near Lviv because we know almost for sure, but Putin will not send the ground troops there. And we want to fight Russian ground troops. We really want to demonstrate the readiness to defend my country where the fury of this Russian invasion. So we're trying to get back and to join our fight against Russians.
[00:22:25] Jordan Harbinger: So when you say you're fairly sure, they're fairly sure that Putin won't send ground troops to Western Ukraine, do you mean he'll attack it in other ways, like by air or do you not think he will attack Western Ukraine at all?
[00:22:37] Yuriy Matsarsky: He is already attacking Western Ukraine.
[00:22:38] Jordan Harbinger: That's what I thought, yeah.
[00:22:40] Yuriy Matsarsky: The rockets, the bombs and other stuff, but he will not sent troops in Western Ukraine because as I can understand it, his views on history of Ukraine. Because Western part of Ukraine was not a part of Russian empire. It was a part of Austria-Hungarian empire.
[00:22:58] Jordan Harbinger: Yeah.
[00:22:58] Yuriy Matsarsky: It was a part of the Habsburg empire. So for him, the people who lives where it's not Russian, he sees the people from Eastern Ukraine and from the Central Ukraine, as I told you as some kind of misguided Russian but people over Western Ukraine, for humans, just like some kind of aliens, some kind of completely foreign for him. So that's why I'm thinking he's not going to send ground troops there, but I can make mistakes as any other person.
[00:23:26] Jordan Harbinger: Yeah, I can imagine. Now it's a little bit confusing as to what might actually happen. I'm interested — they say on the news, they're giving every 18 to 60-year-old, a weapon and Ukraine. Are there 60-year-old men fighting on these lines next to 18-year-old kids? Is that really what it's like?
[00:23:42] Yuriy Matsarsky: Yup.
[00:23:42] Jordan Harbinger: Wow.
[00:23:43] Yuriy Matsarsky: 18 years old, it's not a kid.
[00:23:45] Jordan Harbinger: No, not anymore.
[00:23:46] Yuriy Matsarsky: In Ukraine, it's grown up and if you want to go to army, you should wait until you're 18, yeah, in my platoon, for example, there are few guys their 50s or even in the late 50s. And there are guys, not even guys, even girls, like 18 years or in early 20s, yeah. There are a lot of different people, different backgrounds with different ethnicity. You know, for example, in our platoon, we have one of the most famous Ukrainian playwrights, who was a famous star before the war. He's a huge person in play world, not only Ukraine but in Eastern Europe also. And we have also guys who we are workers in some plants or in some factories. We're serving together. We're sleeping in the same conditions, eating the same food. All the borders inside the Ukraine now disappeared, completely disappeared. We are one family. We are one unit right now. We are all doing the same work. We are all protecting our country, doing the best, all of us care to do it.
[00:24:54] Jordan Harbinger: Yeah, it sort of sends chills up your spine thinking about the resilience. The sense of unity that we see in the west on the news is really something special. My family is Ukrainian, so take this as a compliment. Just how stubborn everybody over there really is, nobody's giving an inch to the Russians is the feeling that we get. I think there's a common refrain in the United States that you wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of a Ukrainian at any time. And it really is something that is inspiring to most of the world. I assume that Russia is the exception to this. I think probably they don't find it so inspiring, if they even know about it at all.
[00:25:30] What do you feel about these Russian soldiers that are conscripted? You know, in social media and on the Internet, we see these really young guys that look like they were just plucked off of rural Siberia and put into Ukraine and they're calling their parents on the phone and saying, "Yeah, I got captured in Ukraine." And the parents are like, "What are you doing in Ukraine?" They don't seem to know anything about this. Are you seeing any of these guys firsthand?
[00:25:54] Yuriy Matsarsky: Yeah. I saw a few videos like this, but you know, our intelligence services who also gave us another view on this problem. They intercept some talks of these people, relate to their friends in Russia, before these people get in the hands of Ukrainian militaries. They're calling to their moms, they were calling to their brides and telling them, "Oh, I'm killing the Ukrainians. And I will have a lot of money for killing the Ukrainians and I can steal something from their homes. I've already found money or a gold or something like this." And their relatives, their moms, their pops, their brides, and so on will tell them, "Oh, kill them, as much as you can and bring as much as you can from Ukraine. They don't deserve to have anything."
[00:26:36] Jordan Harbinger: Wow.
[00:26:37] Yuriy Matsarsky: I don't trust them when they're telling, "We don't know what we were sent to kill Ukranians." Of course, they knew. Of course, all of them, one hundred percent knew that they were sent to Ukraine to kill, to destroy, to rape, and so on. I don't trust any words about, "Oh, we don't know. They said we're going to some kind of drills. And afterwards we found ourselves in Ukraine with live bullets with real guns. Oh, please forgive us." No sh*t, I can't believe you.
[00:27:07] Jordan Harbinger: Yeah, that's interesting. That's not what we had seen over here, or at least nothing that I'd seen showed that they knew what they were doing, but that is interesting that they did. And it makes a little bit more sense than they just had no idea where they were. I mean, if you're on a battlefield, I mean, and you've got a mobile phone, you probably want to figure out where you are.
[00:27:23] Yuriy Matsarsky: It's impossible. So they're coming to Ukraine. What are you doing here? You came with tanks, with rockets, with rifles and you don't know but you came here as invaders and aggressors, as occupiers. It's impossible.
[00:27:36] Jordan Harbinger: Yeah. Yeah. I agree with that. There's a lot of photos from Ukrainians that show there'll be walking through the woods and they'll find like a rocket launcher vehicle or the mine-resistant vehicle, or even a tank just sitting there, nobody in it. are your forces seeing a lot of abandoned equipment that ran out of gas or just doesn't work anymore?
[00:27:55] Yuriy Matsarsky: Yeah, there are a lot of trophy equipment, which was left by Russian forces. First of all, it's because of over work of our special forces, these guys are destroying the fuel cars, which are heading from Russia to fuel the tanks and all. Because, you know, if you will see all these tanks, all these rocket launchers and on, you know, it's just the rusty pieces of metal. They were useless, completely useless, but also there's a such a thing as Ukrainian spring. It's really called now in Ukraine. It's really cold. It's freezing temperatures. And a lot of occupying troops, they don't have warm places to rest. They don't have warm places to sleep. They don't have hot food. So they just leave their equipment, just leave their vehicles, weapons, and riding away in somewhere that I think they can find some kind of heat, some kind of shelter, or some kind of food and something like that.
[00:28:53] Jordan Harbinger: Yeah. I've heard that a few of them have gotten discovered in Poland, just trying to blend in with everybody else. And then some Ukrainians, they'll say, "Hey, this guy, he's Russian for sure." Because I guess it's quite obvious depending on the situation. And then they end up getting arrested. I've heard some folks say that they've been arresting Russians in Poland. Some were agents that are probably designed to look at refugees, but some of them seem like they probably were fighting and then decided, "Screw this. I'm going to Europe.
[00:29:18] Yuriy Matsarsky: I don't hear anything about this Russians who are trying to escape to Europe, but yeah, you're right. I can tell if this person is Russian or not, and almost anyone in the Ukraine can tell if this person is Russian or not. We have some kind of words in our Ukrainian language, which cannot be pronounced by Russian at all. Even if you are going through Kyiv at night through checkpoints, almost in every checkpoint, the guys who are guarding the city can ask you, "Please say palyanitsya" And for Russian, it's almost impossible to pronounce this word.
[00:29:57] Jordan Harbinger: What is it? Palyanitsya?
[00:29:59] Yuriy Matsarsky: Palyanitsya.
[00:30:00] Jordan Harbinger: Palyanitsya. That's hard.
[00:30:02] Yuriy Matsarsky: Yeah. Yeah. You feel a be shot at the checkpoint, immediately.
[00:30:05] Jordan Harbinger: Hopefully, I don't have a Russian accent. Yeah, I'd have to say, "Excuse me, I don't speak Ukrainian or Russian." Yikes. What does it mean, that word?
[00:30:13] Yuriy Matsarsky: It's some kinds of bread, which is baked on special occasions.
[00:30:18] Jordan Harbinger: Okay. I'm going to have to look that up. I don't know why I'm going to practice that, but I'm going to. Now, how do you feel about the Russians that aren't soldiers? You know, the everyday Russians sitting at home, what are you cranes generally feel about them? Do you think they know what's going on or do you think they're just brainwashed and under a media blackout because of Putin?
[00:30:37] Yuriy Matsarsky: There is no informational blackout in Russia. If you want to have information — guys, we are living in the 21st century. You can get any information you want. Of course, a lot of people in Russia, millions of people, maybe tens of millions, some people are really supporting this war because for a long years, I think for 20 years, there was such a bloody propaganda in Russian media. That's about Ukrainians are not real people. We are just Russians who are imagined themselves as a separate nation. Where language is fine, it's not real language. Where religion, it's not real religion. You know, it's just some kind of spoiled, thrash in religion. Where history, it's not real history. It was invented by some kinds of Hapsburg, officers in the Hapsburg headquarters during First World War. I think it started even before the Soviet Union collapsed.
[00:31:31] Russian thought of itself as much higher human builders, much more commoditized human beings than Ukrainians. In their thoughts, in way of thinking, they should have back Kharkiv, Odesa, Kyiv, and other Ukrainian cities. Their propaganda told them and still tells them that these cities and these regions should belong to Russia only. Because sometimes before it was occupied by Russian czars, by Russian in Paris and so on. But nobody here in Ukraine really waits for Russian opposition from Russian, some kind of pro-democracy forces to do anything. There is no such a thing, like a real opposition. There are few people who are in the fury or in the fear on the terror about what's going on in the Ukraine. But I think most people in Russia were supporting the Russian invasion, the Russian occupation, or they don't give a sh*t about it. They're living where only on their troubles and where their own interests.
[00:32:40] Jordan Harbinger: Do you have relatives or anything in Russia, yourself?
[00:32:43] Yuriy Matsarsky: Yeah. For long years, I've been working and living in Russia. I returned back to Ukraine right after their revolution, eight years ago.
[00:32:54] Jordan Harbinger: Okay.
[00:32:54] Yuriy Matsarsky: I quit my job. I was a journalist in Russia. I quit my job and I left almost everything back in Moscow. I took on the most necessary things with me. It was my laptop, my guitar, and my daughter. And with these three things, so I returned and came back to Ukraine and started a new life here in Kyiv.
[00:33:13] Jordan Harbinger: If you've got friends or relatives in Russia, have you spoken to them since this conflict started?
[00:33:19] Yuriy Matsarsky: Yeah. I have a few friends of mine and a few relatives of mine. And these people who are still in touch with me, with whom I have conversations sometimes, they're supporting Ukraine. Of course, I can say it aloud. Of course, we can say in public, but there are so little people left. Because you know, I have hundres of people in Russia when I walked there, when I lived there in my circle. But this circle during these years, it became less and less and less. Now, there are only a few people because all other people, they came to understand that, "Oh, of course, Ukraine should have been a different country." "Of course, you should get back to Russia." And so I don't want to talk to people with such thoughts. It's much easier to me to stop talking to them than trying to pursue them in my views, trying to defend my views for them. No, I just quit talking with them. I just blocked them on the Facebook, on other social media, and deleted their phone numbers from my phone.
[00:34:21] Jordan Harbinger: Yeah, of course, especially since they're at home watching this on TV and you're practicing at the shooting range and hoping that you don't get killed in the middle of it. It's easy for those. In the states, we would say armchair quarterback, right? They're just sitting in their chair, yelling at the television, and you're actually out there in the field. So it's completely different situation for you than for them. And it would be infuriating to have to listen to that sh*t from people like them.
[00:34:45] What do you think the Russian objectives are? You know, what are they fighting for in your opinion?
[00:34:50] Yuriy Matsarsky: As I told you, Putin and people all around him, they don't want us to exist. They give us a choice even before the invasion to declare ourselves Russians and to be a part of his rebuilding empire or to die. So we don't have choice to be Ukrainians. We don't have choice to be free. We don't have choice to be independent while Putin is in charge of Russian affairs, while he's in power. He gave us only two choices: to declare ourselves Russians and to be under his commands or to die. So that's why we are fighting against him. That's why we are civilian people in the tens of thousands taking guns in arms to protect our homeland because as I told you, we don't want to lose our culture. We don't want to lose our independence. We don't want to lose our freedom. We don't want to lose our language. I want my country to be free. I want my country to be prosperous. I want my country to be independent from this bullsh*t in the head of Vladimir Putin. His views is already Nazi views. He don't want us to exist.
[00:35:55] You know, some guy or some girl from a Western media who came here in Kyiv a few days ago asked me, "Is there any point in negotiation with Putin?" I said, "You know, what's like for Jewish people during '40s, previous century, to negotiate with Hitler. We don't have some kinds of points that they both accept it, Hitler and Jewish people. So we are in the same position. We don't have any — he wants to live, he wants us to die — that's all.
[00:36:27] Jordan Harbinger: This is The Jordan Harbinger Show with our guest Yuriy in Ukraine. We'll be right back.
[00:36:32] This episode is sponsored in part by GoodRx. Stop overpaying for your prescriptions and check GoodRx to help find the best price for your prescription meds. I didn't know prescription prices can vary between pharmacies by as much as a hundred dollars, which is obscene. That's the only word I can think of for that. Now, I always use GoodRx to instantly find discounts and compare prices at all the pharmacies in my neighbor. I've got good insurance, but I still check GoodRx because often the price they give me can beat the insurance copay. Plus GoodRx is totally free. Check out the GoodRx site or the GoodRx app. You can save up to 80 percent. It's accepted at over 70,000 pharmacies nationwide here in the US like CVS, Kroger, Walgreens, RiteAid, Vaughn's, Walmart, and more. I've told all my friends and family about this. My father-in-law loves it. Of course. I mean, you know, come on, father-in-law's love saving money. It's like a hobby. I'm taking credit for GoodRx circulating in the Taiwanese community here in my neighborhood.
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[00:38:47] Jordan Harbinger: Thank you for listening to and supporting the show. As a reminder, all the ad revenue from this episode will go to supporting the people of Ukraine. To learn more about our sponsors, all of the deals are on one page, jordanharbinger.com/deals. Please consider supporting those who support us so we can in turn support Ukraine.
[00:39:04] Now for the rest of my conversation with Yuriy in Ukraine.
[00:39:08] That brings us to the idea, what do you think Putin will do if he wins? You think he will exterminate everybody who's Ukrainian?
[00:39:15] Yuriy Matsarsky: You know where's the dude right now? Type Mariupol in Google to see what's going on in Mariupol in Google News. It's already genocide. He doesn't want the Ukrainian to exist, you know, as a separate nation. He wants us to be a part of Russia. If we don't want to be a part of Russia, he wants to destroy our culture, to destroy our language, to destroy our religion. As I told you, we don't have a choice to be Ukrainians. In his mind, we have a choice to be a Russian or not to exist at all.
[00:39:46] Jordan Harbinger: Okay. So if he wins, that's the choice. What do you think he will do if he loses? What do you think he'll do?
[00:39:52] Yuriy Matsarsky: I don't want to talk about it, but we will win or we will die. It's out of the question.
[00:39:58] Jordan Harbinger: Why isn't the Internet cutoff in Kyiv? Are Ukrainian troops keeping it running? Because I mean, all jokes aside, I think your Internet is better than mine and you're in a war zone and I'm in Silicon Valley, like plugged into my wall. So why do you have better Internet than me? It's insane.
[00:40:13] Yuriy Matsarsky: We have really nice Internet and cheap Internet. I think it's one of the fastest and cheapest Internet in the world. Our providers, our Internet companies are doing the best they can to make people connect to each other, to make people tied to each other in such dire situations, in such a bad situation in Ukraine. And not only our people, not only our companies, maybe as you knew already Elon Musk sends a few of his Starlink terminals to Ukraine and in some of Ukrainian cities, in some of Ukrainian towns, you can already join, you can already use his Starlink satellite Internet free of charge. So thanks to him also.
[00:40:59] Jordan Harbinger: Wow. Yeah, it's a win-win for sure. Are you preparing to fallback at some point and lead guerrilla troops or fight on the front lines as long as possible? Because it seems like you do at some point have a choice between whether to stay in the trenches, so to speak, or is that a decision that's not made by anyone around you?
[00:41:18] Yuriy Matsarsky: You know we have a lot of trenches all around Kyiv. We have a lot of trenches inside Kyiv. So we are ready for a trench war, but at the same time, almost every house, almost every flat in Kyiv is some kind of little fortress. Because almost all the people which is stealing Kyiv were army in some way or another. A lot of people have guns. If Russian will come, we have a gunfire from every second window. If you don't have, for some reasons, rifle, if you don't have assault rifle or something, people prepare Molotov cocktails. I think millions of bottles of Molotov cocktails in the Ukraine, ready to be used on Russian tanks and Russian troops. So we are preparing for a battle in trenches. We are preparing for protecting Kyiv and not letting these bastards to get into our capital, but we are also preparing for a guerrilla war inside our cities, even inside Kyiv.
[00:42:20] Jordan Harbinger: The world has, of course, been watching Ukraine and your president. Zelensky, you know, he's quite active in the media. Are you glad that he's staying in Ukraine? Does that matter for morale?
[00:42:31] Yuriy Matsarsky: Yeah, you know, he's not my hero. He's not a person I voted in in last election, but now I feel he's doing the best he can. I think he's a real inspiration for a lot of people, not only inside the Ukraine, but even outside the Ukraine. I think a lot of people can agree with me, he's a brave guy and he's doing the best he can, even better than best.
[00:42:55] Jordan Harbinger: Yeah, it is a little bit funny. I'm imagining him, you know, making the rounds, increasing soldier morale and shaking hands, and you tell them, "Hey, I voted for the other guy, but thanks for coming."
[00:43:05] Yuriy Matsarsky: Yeah. Yeah. It's normal in Ukraine. In Ukraine, it's normal. It's completely normal.
[00:43:10] Jordan Harbinger: What is morale like? You know, we've seen a lot of what us Internet dorks might call sh*t posting from Zelensky from the government. Are there jokes that are making the rounds? Are you guys doing some sort of dark comedy or anything like that? Like we often see during hard times.
[00:43:26] Yuriy Matsarsky: You know, morale are really high in Kyiv, and I think in other cities, and other towns of Ukraine too. As I told you, we don't want to lose this war and we are not preparing for losing. We are preparing only for winning. That's why, you know, they can't take us alive. So we will make over Ukraine, one huge graveyard for them. So that's why we are in some kind of high morale. We're not going to lose. We are not going to lose anyway.
[00:43:51] Jordan Harbinger: Are there songs or movies or anything that people are talking about and referencing right now? A friend of mine who lived in Serbia during Slobodan Milosevic. He said that the Resistance groups, they were all quoting Lord of the Rings movies because they felt like they were standing up to the Dark Lord. And they really ran with that for a long period of time.
[00:44:10] Yuriy Matsarsky: Yeah. People of my platoon, yesterday or day before yesterday, watched in the night, the movie, Downfall. Maybe, you know, this movie, it's a German movie about last days of Hitler in his bunker in Berlin. So we're watching this movie, imagine that they are watching a movie not about Hitler, but about Putin. So yeah, I think that's an answer for your question.
[00:44:34] Jordan Harbinger: Yeah, definitely. How is the food out there at the front? Because we see these stories of Russian soldiers getting like seven-year-old meals in a bag that have been spoiled for five of the seven years. What are you eating?
[00:44:47] Yuriy Matsarsky: Oh, we have so much food from best restaurants from the best shops. Volunteers and military ministry gave a lot of money to buy best food. In our platoon, the guy came on the second day or on the third day of the war, who said, "You know, I'm a chef in one of a luxury restaurants. The restaurant now is closed. So I want to be useful, please let me join you. I will prepare food for you." And I've never eat so much different tasty food in my life like I'm eating in the army right now. I gave him five Michelin stars for being here. And all the other guys will say the same.
[00:45:29] Jordan Harbinger: That's funny. You will probably never hear anyone say, "I've never had so much delicious food like I've had here in the army." I don't think anyone's ever said that before.
[00:45:37] Yuriy Matsarsky: Yeah, but you know, this is our reality.
[00:45:39] Jordan Harbinger: Yeah.
[00:45:39] Yuriy Matsarsky: This is our reality. And when I'm talking to guys from other platoons, this is the same. I talked to a guy who is in charge in the platoon in a small town in Central Ukraine. He said, "Oh, we have some kinds of guys from local superb restaurant and where twice a day come into us and deliver to us the hot food, hot dishes right from the oven." And then he said also that he's eaten the best food in his life.
[00:46:07] Jordan Harbinger: For some reason that strikes me as funny. And I don't mean to laugh at your situation, of course. It's amazing to me that everyone's coming together, but it's also just somehow funny that this luxury, this amazing chef is able to make large quantities of food that are also still good. I don't know. There's just something kind of humorous about this guy whipping up eggs Florentine omelettes in the middle of a battlefield. Inspiring is a word that I keep using and I hate overusing that word, but it really is something like that.
[00:46:34] One day, this is going to be in a history book. What should that book say? Because you may not realize this in the moment, but you're essentially, men and women, like you are the fathers and mothers of a new Ukraine, you know, a new Ukraine fighting another war of independence. And is that something you think about, do you think about being remembered in that way?
[00:46:54] Yuriy Matsarsky: No, no, but I can't watch reports or videos from my beloved city of Kharkiv without tears. For only two weeks, Russia destroyed more houses inside Kharkiv when Nazis destroyed Europe with whole Second World War, worse than Nazis. We're doing the ugliest films you can imagine. We're doing the cowardice Phoenix you can imagine. It's impossible to describe whatever we're doing right now in Ukraine, with our people, with our civilians, with our women, with our kids. It's just such a brutality, unimaginable brutality.
[00:47:30] Jordan Harbinger: What does it mean to be Ukrainian now, do you think your national identity has changed? Like, do you identify as European, uniquely Ukrainian, something else?
[00:47:40] Yuriy Matsarsky: Yeah, of course, we are Europeans. So of course, our future is with European values, with European freedom, with European liberties. Of course, we are Europeans. First of all, we are the people who already choose the freedom as one of our main parts of identity. This part of identity makes us Europeans, but at the same time, we are Ukrainians. These parts of our identity is not in conflict with each other. You can be a Polish and the European, you can be Spanish and European. Why shouldn't we be Ukrainian and Europeans at the same time? It's not a problem. It's normal.
[00:48:20] Jordan Harbinger: Yeah. I'm asking because you know, Russia clearly is trying to impose what their vision of Ukraine is on you, by force. And I'm curious, you know, do you feel like the west is also imposing our vision on you? Like, "Hey, this is what Ukraine is. They're neutral or they're closer to the east."
[00:48:36] Yuriy Matsarsky: No, no, no. This is our choice. This choice wasn't made under the pressure from the United States or from Germany or from Greenville. No, it's our choice. It's our decision to be a part of European over Western civilians.
[00:48:50] Jordan Harbinger: As the season changes you mentioned earlier, it's cold.
[00:48:53] Yuriy Matsarsky: Yeah. It's really cold. It's really cold right now.
[00:48:55] Jordan Harbinger: What will change in the nature of this war as it warms up? You know, we were saying before, "Oh, Putin, if he's going to go in there, his tanks are going to get stuck in the mud." Well, it's still cold. It's not going to be cold for long. You know, I lived in Ukraine for several months, 20 years ago, and it gets just as warm as any other place in the spring and in the summer, at least I grew up in Michigan. So it gets at least as warm as Michigan. That's going to change everything. You're going to have a completely different environment. What will that do to the battle?
[00:49:22] Yuriy Matsarsky: Yeah, our tanks and our the trucks and all our equipment will stuck in the muds and our guns, so we have javelins, NLAWS, and RPGs will bury with trucks and tanks and with all of our equipment. So you will see it that I think in a few days or maximum in a few weeks,
[00:49:41] Jordan Harbinger: What do you think of this Azov battalion, where it's like, they're actually very much looking like Nazis and they've got their swastikas and their SS helmets and tattoos. Putin says, "Oh, I'm stopping these guys." what are the Ukrainians think of these guys? Because obviously, you're not all Azov battalion guys.
[00:50:01] Yuriy Matsarsky: First of all, battalion, it's not a huge division. Battalion. It's only a few dozens of people, but I can tell if it's one of my closest friends and my colleagues, he is not only Ukrainian, but he's also an Israeli citizen. So he is a Jew, a Jewish guy, and he was one of my instructors. He spent a lot of time in the Israeli army. He spends a lot of time as an officer in Israeli army. And now, he's preparing the Ukrainians for fighting against Russians. And he is also preparing guys from Azov battalion. He has no bad experience working with them. So I think all this stuff, all this excess stuff and all other things, for me, maybe I'm wrong, but for me, it's just some kind of post. In the United States, some bike gangs use also such as symbolic for something, you know, to do something, to demonstrate something that we are not, you know, just like ours. Maybe Azov battalion is the same things as some kind of Hells Angels or something like that.
[00:51:02] Jordan Harbinger: Got it. There are refugees fleeing many places with oppression and war, like places in the Middle East, but they've not really sparked such outrage or desire to help from the rest of the world as what is happening is in Ukraine. So I've heard from Palestinian friends and Syrians like, "Hey, what the hell? You know, this was happening to us where it was all this goodwill." There's a lot more sympathy seemingly for Ukraine. What do you make of Americans or Westerners being more sympathetic to your cause and maybe less so to others?
[00:51:32] Yuriy Matsarsky: For me, only one explanation is it's about all these wars in Middle East and Central Asia and Africa are really far away from the Western countries, but now, you know, the closest rocket was was less than 25 kilometers from the border of European union. So this war is waging at the gates of NATO and the gates of European union. That's why Europeans and people over west are more sympathetic to Ukrainian than any other cause.
[00:52:04] Jordan Harbinger: I will let you go. I'm going to set and put links to your podcast and everything in the show notes here. Thank you. Please stay safe. I hope to speak to you again soon. Thank you so much.
[00:52:15] Yuriy Matsarsky: Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. See you.
[00:52:17] Jordan Harbinger: Bye.
[00:52:17] Yuriy Matsarsky: Bye.
[00:52:19] Jordan Harbinger: You know, I've got some thoughts on this episode, but before I get into that, here's what you should check out next on The Jordan Harbinger Show.
[00:52:25] A lot of people hear the name Pussy Riot, and they think, "All right, what is this? You're just trying to get shock value." Can you tell us the beginning a little bit of what Pussy Riot is? When I was reading in the book and you said you just made it up for a lecture, I was like, "There's got to be more to it than that.
[00:52:37] Nadya Tolokonnikova: No seriously.
[00:52:38] Jordan Harbinger: Not really.
[00:52:39] Nadya Tolokonnikova: Seriously. They decided to punish us. They opened a criminal case and in two weeks after the performance, we've got arrested. We knew how to hide from the cops and for a week, dozens of cops were really looking for us. And when they caught us, finally, they were so happy.
[00:52:57] Jordan Harbinger: You're making them look like fools.
[00:52:59] Nadya Tolokonnikova: It's our profession.
[00:53:00] Jordan Harbinger: How does it feel to have these world leaders who are in these private chambers with their tea and their bodyguards, and you're sitting in a Russian prison and they're like, "These 22-year-old women, they're screwing my world up, man. I got to do something about this. Look at how bad they are.
[00:53:15] Nadya Tolokonnikova: I was really happy that Putin is in trouble because of us, because they definitely didn't expect anything like that. My mother thinks that I need to immigrate, run immediately.
[00:53:27] Jordan Harbinger: Yeah, you still live in Russia. I can't even believe it.
[00:53:29] Nadya Tolokonnikova: Yeah.
[00:53:29] Jordan Harbinger: You wrote, "The future has never seemed so full of enrich and wonderful possibilities as when I was in a labor camp and literally had nothing but dreams." What gives you the strength to go forward when you're worried about, are they going to try to blind me? Are they going to try to beat me up? I mean, they were highly abusive to you while you were behind bars.
[00:53:47] Nadya Tolokonnikova: I just prefer not to think about it.
[00:53:49] Jordan Harbinger: For more from Pussy Riot and world-renowned artists, Nadya Tolokonnikova and her time in Russian prison, and of course their crusade against Vladimir Putin's regime, check out episode 118 on The Jordan Harbinger Show.
[00:54:02] Links to all things Yuriy will be in the show notes. He has his own podcast called Fighting for Ukraine. We'll, of course, link it in the show notes. I'd love to do more with Yuriy here, since he's really in the middle of a historic conflict. And I find myself quite invested in his story. Again, links to all things Yuriy in the show notes at jordanharbinger.com. Transcripts are in the show notes. Advertisers' deals, discount codes, all at jordanharbinger.com/deals and all proceeds from this episode go to support the people of Ukraine. I'm at @JordanHarbinger on both Twitter and Instagram, or just hit me on LinkedIn.
[00:54:35] I'm teaching you how to connect with amazing people using the same software, systems, and tiny habits that I use every single day. It's our Six-Minute Networking course, and the course is free. There's no upsells, no-nonsense. jordanharbinger.com/course. Dig that well before you get thirsty and build relationships before you need them. Many of the guests on the show actually subscribe and contribute to the course. Come join us, you'll be in smart company where you belong.
[00:54:59] This show is created in association with PodcastOne. My team is Jen Harbinger, Jasee Sanderson, Robert Fogarty, Millie Ocampo, Ian Baird, Josh Ballard, and Gabriel Mizrahi. Remember, we rise by lifting others. The fee for this show is that you share it with friends when you find something useful or interesting. If you know somebody who's following this war and would be interested in Yuriy's perspective, please share this episode with them. The greatest compliment you can give us is to share the show with those you care about. In the meantime, do your best to apply what you hear on the show, so you can live what you listen, and we'll see you next time.
[00:55:33] I wanted to tell you all about the On the Edge podcast with Andrew Gold. I was on the show recently. The guy's a good interviewer. I like him a lot. He's kind of like — if you know, Louis Theroux, those documentaries, he's kind of like a cooler version of that guy. Each episode is a conversation with some of the world's most interesting and often controversial people and there's true-crime stuff. Amanda Knox was on there. She was on our show as well. He also talked to a female Mormon psychopath, which is quite the mix. Another episode tells the story of a man who was in a plane crash and he had to eat his friends to survive, which is really horrific. And that's an understatement. I also recommend checking out his episode, of course, with me, no bias there. What I like about the show is Andrew is a really good questionnaire. He's a good journalist. He gets a lot out of some really unique people. And he's good at finding guests that aren't just the same people that are everywhere. And so I think him and I have that in common. So if you like my show, you're going to like this show as well. I really think it's a quality listen. So check out On the Edge with Andrew Gold on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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