The Russia-Ukraine War

Watch

• Why is Russia invading Ukraine? ↗The Economist
• Into the Void: Putin's Foreign Fighters - BBC World Service Documentaries ↗BBC World Service
• Ukraine War: Viola's Story | Ukraine: The Children's Story | Newsround ↗BBC Newsround
• Is the Ukraine War entering a new phase of aggression? | BBC Newscast ↗BBC News
• A brief history of modern Ukraine - BBC News ↗BBC News
• Why thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are deserting the front lines | Focus on Europe ↗DW News

Read

• The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine ↗An indispensable historical primer, charting Ukraine's complex journey as a contested borderland, essential for grasping the roots of the current conflict.Serhii Plokhy
• Overreach: How Russia Lost the War in Ukraine ↗A compelling narrative dissecting Russia's strategic miscalculations and Ukraine's unexpected resilience in the initial phase of the full-scale invasion.Owen Matthews
• Invasion: The Inside Story of Russia's Bloody War and Ukraine's Fight for Survival ↗A vivid, on-the-ground account from a seasoned correspondent, offering an immediate and human perspective on the early days of the 2022 conflict.Luke Harding
• Putin's Wars: The Rise of Russia's New Imperialism ↗Provides crucial context by tracing Russia's pattern of military aggression under Putin, illuminating the imperial ambitions underpinning the invasion of Ukraine.Mark Galeotti
• The Case for UkraineA concise and powerful essay articulating the historical and moral stakes of Ukraine's struggle, framing it as a pivotal moment for global democracy.Timothy Snyder
• The War in Ukraine: A Geopolitical EarthquakeTwo leading Russia experts analyse the profound and lasting geopolitical ramifications of the invasion, from energy markets to great power competition.Fiona Hill and Angela Stent

Voices to follow

• Timothy Snyder ↗His incisive historical analysis illuminates the ideological underpinnings and long-term consequences of Russia's aggression.Richard C. Levin Professor of History, Yale University
• Anne Applebaum ↗Offers trenchant commentary on the war's geopolitical ramifications and its challenge to democratic norms.Staff Writer, The Atlantic; Senior Fellow, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
• Fiona Hill ↗Provides unparalleled insight into the Kremlin's motivations and the intricate dynamics of Russian foreign policy.Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution; former National Security Council official
• Lawrence Freedman ↗A pre-eminent strategist, he offers rigorous assessments of the conflict's military and political trajectory.Emeritus Professor of War Studies, King's College London

Glossary

• AnnexationAnnexation is when a country formally takes control of another country's territory and makes it part of its own, often by force. It's like someone taking a piece of land that doesn't belong to them and declaring it theirs. For example, Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and later tried to annex other parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.
• CeasefireA ceasefire is a temporary stop to fighting in a war or conflict, agreed upon by all sides involved. It's like a timeout in a game where both teams agree to pause. For example, during the war, there were calls for a ceasefire to allow civilians to safely leave dangerous areas or for aid to be delivered.
• DiplomacyDiplomacy is the process of countries talking to each other to solve problems peacefully, negotiate agreements, and manage international relations. It's like two friends talking through a disagreement instead of fighting. For example, leaders from different countries used diplomacy to try and find a peaceful solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
• Humanitarian CrisisA humanitarian crisis is a severe event or series of events that threatens the health, safety, or well-being of a large group of people, often caused by war or natural disasters. For example, when millions of Ukrainians had to flee their homes because of the fighting and needed food, shelter, and medical help, that created a humanitarian crisis.
• InvasionAn invasion is when one country's military enters another country's territory by force, usually to take control or attack. For example, when Russia sent its army into Ukraine in 2022, it was an invasion.
• NATONATO stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which is a military alliance (a group of countries that agree to protect each other) formed mainly by countries in North America and Europe. If one member country is attacked, the others promise to help defend it. For example, Ukraine wanted to join NATO, which Russia saw as a threat because it would mean more Western military power close to its borders.
• RefugeeA refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. They seek safety in another country. For example, many Ukrainian families became refugees when they had to leave Ukraine to find safety in neighboring countries like Poland or Germany.
• SanctionsSanctions are penalties or restrictions placed on a country, its leaders, or its businesses by other countries, usually to pressure them to change their actions. These can include limiting trade or freezing assets (money and property). For example, many countries put sanctions on Russia to try and stop the war, making it harder for Russia to sell oil or use international banking.
• SovereigntySovereignty means a country has the full right and power to govern itself without interference from outside countries. It's like a person having the right to make their own choices without others telling them what to do. For example, Ukraine's sovereignty means it should be able to decide its own future and alliances without Russia dictating terms.
• War CrimesWar crimes are serious violations of international laws that protect people during armed conflict, such as intentionally targeting civilians, torturing prisoners, or destroying civilian infrastructure without military necessity. These are considered illegal acts even during wartime. For example, if soldiers deliberately attacked a hospital or killed unarmed civilians, those actions could be investigated as war crimes.

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Where this connects to other fields, and why it's worth knowing.

• International & Human Rights Law Law

  'You can't grab land by force' feels like an eternal law. It isn't: for almost all of history, conquest was completely normal and legal. The rule against seizing borders is a fragile invention barely older than your grandparents, born after 1945, and every new war tests whether it still holds.

• Modelling & Simulation Mathematics

  With modern guns that shoot from a distance, an army's strength grows with the square of its size, so double your troops and you're roughly four times as strong. That's why 5 soldiers against 3 isn't a close fight; the bigger side wins and barely loses anyone. This is Lanchester's square law: piling up numbers beats raw bravery, mathematically.

• Growth & Productivity Economics

  You can conquer land and steal gold, but you can't seize a population's skills, trust, and institutions, those flee or freeze up the moment invaders arrive. In old farming economies, grabbing the farmland grabbed the wealth. In today's knowledge economy, the real value evaporates the instant you try to capture it, which is why conquest stopped paying.

• Evolution Science

  Animals only bother defending territory when the food there is rich and steady enough to be worth the fight, biologists call it 'economic defensibility'. Surprisingly, the same math predicts where humans draw hard borders and go to war over them, and where nobody cares enough to bleed for the line.