A detailed, gripping and urgent account of Russia's persistent attempts to reclaim Ukraine over more than two decades, culminating in the 2022 invasion. This book offers a comprehensive history, beginning with early aggression in 1999, through the annexation of Crimea in 2014, to the full-scale invasion of 2022. The authors provide a chilling narrative that exposes Russia's geopolitical strategies and the global threat they pose. Drawing on historical analogies and contemporary analysis, Felshtinsky and Stanchev highlight the mounting atrocities and the potential for broader conflict if the West does not respond effectively. The book weaves personal anecdotes and meticulous research, creating a gripping account of the ongoing struggle. It serves as a powerful call to action, emphasizing the need for international awareness and intervention to address the escalating crisis and protect global stability.
YURI FELSHTINSKY is a historian of the Russian secret service with close ties to leading defectors. He co-authored bestsellers Blowing Up Russia (Gibson Square) with poisoned KGB Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Litvinenko, and The Age of Assassins: How Putin Poisons Elections (Gibson Square). He was a Fellow at the Hoover Institute, University of Stanford, and the first US citizen to receive a doctorate from the Russian Academy of Sciences. In Ukraine, he led the project to decode the infamous 'Kuchma tapes' recording the plot to assassinate a leading Ukrainian journalist. He appears regularly as news commentator on MSNBC, NPR, BBC and Sky TV, and in the central-European and British press. MICHAEL STANCHEV is Professor of History and Head of the History Department at Kharkiv Karazin University, Ukraine, and was an advisor to the Ukraine Foreign Office. He is the author of 17 books, and an Academician of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He regularly publishes scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals, and has lectured in the United States, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan. He lives in Kharkiv with his family.
Ukraine: The First Battle of World War III? Introduction: Time will Tell 1 A Thousand Year Wait 2 Dawdling in Europe 3 Georgiy Gongadze's Assassination 4 The Poisoning of Viktor Yushchenko 5 The Orange Revolution 6 The Sfinx 7 A Burglar as President 8 The Turning Point, Minsk 9 EuroMaidan 10 The Mysterious Return of the "Banderites" 11 Civil War 12 Change of Power or Oligarchs? 13 The Invasions of Crimea 14 False "Russian Spring" 15 "Substitution of Ideas" as a Dance to War 16 Do Russians Want War? Conclusions Appendix - Vladimir Putin: "The Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians" Endnotes Index
'Seizing Ukraine remains the main goal of Putin. Unfortunately, these words, much like the rest of the book, will prove prophetic.' OLEG KALUGIN, Former KGB General and Head of Counter-Espionage; 'Historians are blessed with numerous virtues, but bravery is rarely among them. Still, living in a modern world requires fundamental reconsideration of all of the conventional notions regarding Russia and Ukraine, United States and Europe. This book by two brave and scrupulous historians will undoubtedly help the reader to comprehend the present, as well as to live in the future.' ALEXANDER ETKIND, Professor of History, European University Institute, Florence
