Armies of Russia's War in Ukraine

The book explores the Ukrainian and Russian regular and irregular forces fighting in the Donbas region since 2014, highlighting Russia's policy of hybrid warfare and deniable proxies. It provides an overview of the conflict's background and progress, and addresses Russian military capabilities.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 64 pages
Publication date: 27 June 2019
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

The Ukrainian and Russian regular and irregular forces have been fighting in the Donbas region since 2014, with street protests in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities leading to the ousting of the Russian-backed President Yanukovych and an almost-bloodless seizure of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. The Euromaidan Revolution saw many changes to the country's constitution and a turn towards the West for civic assistance and military training. However, a violent reaction in the mainly Russian-speaking south-eastern industrial Donbas region led to a local armed counter-revolution, backed by Russia from April 2014. This conflict became an essential example of Russia's policy of 'hybrid warfare, which pursues its strategic aims by a blend of propaganda and misinformation with the clandestine deployment of Special Forces and regular troops, alongside 'deniable proxies and mercenaries. Meanwhile, Ukraine's efforts to reform its government culminated in the landslide election of President Zelensky in April 2019. Using his extensive contacts in both Russia and Ukraine, Prof Mark Galeotti presents a thorough and intriguing primer on all the forces involved in the conflict up to 2018. Supported by orders-of-battle, colour photos and specially commissioned artwork, his book also analyses the background and the stuttering progress of the war, and addresses the Russian military capabilities which are today being tested in all-out battle.

Weight: 222g
Dimension: 249 x 182 x 4 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781472833440