During the interview, Batsman and Feigin discussed:
- the elimination of Russian General Igor Kirillov in the center of Moscow;
- the possible plan of the elected U.S. President Donald Trump regarding Ukraine and his actions if the illegitimate president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, refuses to negotiate;
- the leverage the U.S. has over Russia;
- the meeting of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with European leaders, which will take place this evening in Brussels and will likely address the peacekeeping contingent for Ukraine.
"Despite Trump's efforts to avoid confrontation with Moscow to the extent of mutual involvement in war, a situation may arise where it becomes inevitable... [Right now, it's] very important for Ukraine to secure Trump's support, to convince him that there is some other way [to end the war] besides concessions to Moscow. To achieve this, European solidarity must be demonstrated; otherwise, it will be difficult for Trump to overlook it. It’s also important to understand a key detail: no matter what Trump is accused of, he will never sell the American voters the implementation of his peace plan in Ukraine through its surrender. He cannot do that. And probably doesn't want to. He needs to show results – yes, with compromises, yes, with costs – but still a result that preserves a sovereign, independent, and Western-oriented Ukraine. Only such a result can be sold," Feigin said.
Feigin was born in 1971 in Kuibyshev (now Samara). He graduated from the law faculty of Samara State University, the Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation, and the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. He holds a PhD in law.
During his student years, he was active in the political life of Samara and was a member of the Democratic Union party. From 1994 to 1995, he served as a deputy in the State Duma of the I convocation. From 1997 to 2007, he was the vice-mayor of Samara. In the 1990s, he obtained the status of a lawyer but began practicing law in the 2000s.
Feigin gained wide recognition as one of the lawyers for the members of the Russian punk group Pussy Riot. Following the onset of Russian aggression, he defended the interests of several well-known Ukrainian citizens who were detained on Russian territory or against whom criminal cases were initiated in absentia, including the leader of the Crimean Tatar people, Mustafa Dzhemilev, former pilot Nadiya Savchenko, and journalist Roman Sushchenko.
In 2018, Feigin was stripped of his lawyer status in Russia, in 2022 he was included in the list of "foreign agents," in 2023 he was put on the wanted list, and in 2024 he was initially sentenced in absentia for "fakes" regarding the actions of Russian occupiers in Ukraine, and later sentenced to 11 years in a penal colony.
Currently, Feigin is engaged in blogging and is developing his YouTube channel "Feigin LIVE," which has nearly 2 million subscribers.