The Delegates Lounge

Join Dave Smith, a former major in the Canadian Armed Forces, fighting alongside Belarusian Partisans for Ukraine. From the intense battlegrounds North of Kharkiv to the life-saving professional efforts within its hospitals, Dave offers a raw and authentic soldier's viewpoint of what it is to fight up close on the line of engagement - the Zero Line. The conversation sheds light on the grim realities of capturing Russian conscripts and subsequent efforts at prisoner exchanges, exploring the stark differences in how Ukrainian and Russian forces handle detainees.  Dave provides insights on how compromised platforms like Telegram play a crucial role in the information war. He offers a fascinating look at the North Atlantic Fella Organization (NAFO), an internet meme movement that supports Ukraine. Dave's candid reflections, paint a vivid picture of the way in which humor enables both young and old to cope with the stresses of war.J. Alex Tarquinio and Frank Radford, our hosts in The Delegates Lounge, spoke from New York, while Dave spoke from Ukraine via web conference. Part 1 of this conversation began in July with Dave's account of his journey and his insights into the war up until that point. This took place before his regiment was deployed to fight North of Kharkiv. For Part 2, we spoke with Dave in October, after intense combat with Russian conscripts on the Zero Line and his recent stay in a hospital in Kharkiv. He also described how soldiers use social media on the frontlines. As he relates his battlefield experiences, listeners will catch a rare glimpse into how international policies directly impact those on the front lines.References: Alex mentioned an essay that she wrote for Foreign Policy about soft power which included the NAFO fellas Internet meme.https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/08/06/russia-ukraine-soft-power-culture-diplomacy-fellas-nafo/Dave related a story about standing in a trench and watching a video of that same position being hit two days earlier in a social media video. He graciously shared a video of that experience with us, and here are the links on Instagram and X.https://www.instagram.com/p/DCKDdJLJql4/https://x.com/alextarquinio/status/1855287497288266063Dave joined the Kastuś Kalinoŭski Regiment of Belarusian volunteers fighting in support of Ukraine.https://kalinouski.org/en/