The Daily

Ending the war in Ukraine very much depends on how and when President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia allows it to end.

In an interview for his podcast “The Ezra Klein Show,” the opinion columnist Ezra Klein spoke with one of the world’s leading experts on Mr. Putin, Fiona Hill, a foreign policy adviser for three United States presidents.

Today, we run the discussion between Ms. Hill and Ezra Klein about how Mr. Putin is approaching this moment, and the right and wrong ways for the West to engage him. 

Guest: Fiona Hill, a senior fellow at the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution.

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Background reading: 

Here’s a guide to the roots of the Ukraine war.About two-thirds of Ukraine’s population of 44 million people lived in cities before Russia’s invasion began. Now, many urban areas are in the cross hairs of war. What cities is Russia targeting?

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It has been two weeks since the beginning of the war in Ukraine and Russia’s high-tech army of nearly 200,000 soldiers have not taken control of any major cities, except the southern port of Kherson. 

The state of the war is eerily stalled and the Russians’ answer has been to encircle cities and, from a distance, bomb what they can’t control. 

Today, we hear dispatches on two cities in Ukraine’s south that are surrounded and under attack. 

Guest: Michael Schwirtz, an investigative reporter for The New York Times; and Valerie Hopkins, a Moscow correspondent for The Times, currently in Ukraine.

Background reading: 

 Two weeks after the invasion began, tens of thousands of Ukrainians are without food, water or power. The Russians are increasingly resorting to indiscriminate shelling to help their forces advance.The southern city of Mariupol is under a relentless barrage — there is no heat or electricity and little communication with the outside world. 

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On Tuesday morning, President Biden took to the podium at the White House to deliver a solemn and provocative speech. As punishment for waging war on Ukraine, he announced,  the United States would cut off Russian oil imports.

Mr. Biden said the move would require some sacrifice, but would be for the greater good.

How much will the ban hurt Russia, and American consumers?

Guest: Clifford Krauss, a national energy business correspondent for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

Mr. Biden banned oil imports from Russia, calling it a “blow to Putin’s war machine.”The ban could have meaningful consequences for the U.S. economy, pushing up prices at the gas pump when inflation is already rapid. 

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Since the start of the war in Ukraine, no single figure has antagonized President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia as effectively or persistently as President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. His defiant videos and speeches have inspired the West into action and, by his own account, made him a target for Russian assassins. 

What is it about the comedian-turned-president and his rise to power that poses such a unique threat to Mr. Putin?

Guest: Anton Troianovski, the Moscow bureau chief for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

How Volodymyr Zelensky rallied Ukrainians, and the world, against Putin.

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This episode contains strong language. 

In response to Russia’s increasingly brutal campaign against Ukrainian towns and cities, an estimated 1.5 million people — most of them women and children — have fled Ukraine over the past 10 days. It’s the fastest displacement of people in Europe since World War II.

While evacuating the capital city of Kyiv for Lviv in the west, a seven-hour journey that took two days and nights, the Daily host Sabrina Tavernise traveled alongside some of those fleeing the conflict.

Background reading: 

With most Ukrainian men legally prohibited from leaving Ukraine, the international border gates serve as a painful filter, splitting families as women and children move on.Spared direct attacks so far, Lviv, a city in Ukraine’s west, has become a transit point for thousands of fleeing refugees and for men and supplies headed to the front lines.

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It was a perplexing event, with little in the way of legal closure. Seven years on from a fatal biker shootout in 2015, Mark Binelli explores the details of the event — which started as a brawl between rival “outlaw” motorcycle clubs, the Cossacks and the Bandidos, at a restaurant in Waco, West Texas, which left nine dead and 20 wounded — and the investigation that followed.

The article delves into the methodology of the case’s main investigator, Paul Looney, and a trial-preparation specialist, Roxanne Avery, as well as the event’s cultural significance, described by The New York Times as “what appears to be the largest roundup and mass arrest of bikers in recent American history.”

The aftermath of the deadly brawl, which was preceded by rumblings of an escalating feud, has been the subject of protracted interest: Despite the arrests of 177 bikers — all of whom, regardless of the evidence, were subject to identical felony charges and million-dollar bonds — no one has been convicted.

Binelli explains the root causes of the tensions between the Bandidos and the Cossacks, relays the details of the incident, and considers why it has been so hard to bring the perpetrators to justice.

This story was written by Mark Binelli and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

This episode contains strong language.

After winning his House seat in the 2018 midterm elections, Representative Dan Crenshaw, a Republican of Texas, seemed to have found a sweet spot between full-blown Trumpism and the anti-Trump wing of the party.

But after Jan. 6, and ahead of this year’s midterms, more extreme factions of the Republican Party have cast him less as a vision for the future and more as a symbol of what needs snuffing out.

The once-in-a-decade redistricting process gives those factions a structural advantage. On the ground in Texas, we explore the impact of redistricting and speak to Mr. Crenshaw about the state of his party.

Guest: Shane Goldmacher, a national political reporter for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

Competitive districts are disappearing in Texas and beyond. Consider the case of a once-rising Republican star, Dan Crenshaw, in the Houston suburbs.

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After invading, Russia’s military was expected to sweep through Ukraine within a few days, quickly seizing the capital, Kyiv, and installing a pro-Moscow government.

It hasn’t worked out that way.

Now, with Russia’s advance stalling, there are signs that President Vladimir V. Putin is ready to wage a much darker, grimmer campaign.

Guest: Eric Schmitt, a senior writer covering terrorism and national security for The New York Times. 

Background reading: 

After days of miscalculation about Ukraine’s resolve to fight, Russian forces are turning toward an old pattern of opening fire on cities and mounting sieges.Plagued by poor morale as well as fuel and food shortages, some Russian troops in Ukraine have surrendered en masse or sabotaged their own vehicles to avoid fighting, a Pentagon official said.

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As Russian forces bombard Ukraine’s cities and strike civilian areas with increasingly powerful weapons, the European Union has adopted the largest package of sanctions ever imposed on a single country.

The 27-nation bloc overcame a reputation for internal division to agree on the penalties — but will they be enough to help bring the war to an end?

Guest: Matina Stevis-Gridneff, the Brussels bureau chief for The New York Times.

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Background reading: 

As sanctions batter the economy, Russians face the anxieties of a costly war.From culture to commerce, sports to travel, the world is shunning Russia to protest the invasion.

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This episode contains strong language.

As the Russian assault has intensified, the government in Ukraine has enacted martial law, requiring men to stay in the country and either join the fight or face the prospect of conscription.

We tell the story of three of those men: Eugene, an I.T. worker from the northeastern city of Kharkiv; Tyhran, an animator who attempted to cross the border into Poland; and Andrew, who signed up for the territorial defense force two weeks ago.

Guests: Clare Toeniskoetter, a senior producer for The Daily; and Lynsea Garrison, a senior international producer for The Daily. 

Background reading: 

“Everybody in our country needs to defend”: Civilian volunteers and paramilitary groups are taking the fight to the Russian Army in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital.Photographers and videographers around Ukraine have captured a populace struggling with uncertainty and fear.

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For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.