Kyiv 2022

The first authoritative, illustrated account of Russia''s high-risk strike on Ukraine''s capital, the centerpiece of its failed 2022 invasion plan. In 2022, Vladimir Putin was convinced he could seize Kyiv, install a puppet government, and close his fist on Ukraine in a matter of weeks, with minimal fighting. In this book, Dr Mark Galeotti, a world expert on Russian military history, explains how Russia''s lightning conquest was conceived and planned, and how it was defeated. He explains how Russia''s commanders did not expect to go to war and were forced to invade under-prepared, and how they nonetheless made a concerted attempt to seize Hostomel Airport and from there take the capital, with mercenaries detailed to hunt down the government. But Ukrainian military and civilian resistance thwarted the attack and within a month, the Russians were already on the retreat, leaving behind the smoking remains of the 40-mile invasion column outside Kyiv. Drawing extensively on Russian and Ukrainian sources including interviews with soldiers involved in the operation, and fully illustrated with photographs, original artwork and maps, this is the most detailed and compelling study of this operation available in English. It is the story of a strike whose defeat signalled both the shattering of Putin''s expectations of an easy victory, and the start of the reorientation of the war towards the south-east.

Autorentext

Mark Galeotti is a scholar of Russian security with a career spanning academia, government and business, a prolific author and frequent media commentator. He heads the Mayak Intelligence consultancy and is an Honorary Professor at University College London's School of Slavonic and East European Studies as well as holding fellowships with RUSI and the Institute of International Relations Prague. He has been Professor of Global Affairs at New York University, a Senior Research Fellow at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and a Visiting Professor at Rutgers-Newark and the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

Klappentext

Drawing on Mark Galeotti's unrivalled sources in the Russian and Ukrainian militaries, this studies Russia's risky move to seize Kyiv at the start of the 2022 invasion, and how it was foiled.

In 2022, Vladimir Putin was convinced he could seize Kyiv with minimal fighting, install a puppet government, and close his fist on Ukraine in a matter of weeks. As the war he launched continues to rage, Dr Mark Galeotti, a world expert on the Russian military, explains how this lightning conquest was meant to be won - and how the Ukrainians crushed it.

He explains how the Russian Army's generals, under-prepared and kept in the dark, nonetheless made a concerted attempt to seize Hostomel Airport and from there take the capital, with mercenaries detailed to hunt down the government. But Ukrainian military and civilian resistance thwarted the attack and within a month, the Russians were already on the retreat, leaving behind the smoking remains of the 40-mile invasion column outside Kyiv.

Drawing extensively on Russian and Ukrainian sources including interviews with soldiers involved in the operation, and fully illustrated with photographs, original artwork and maps, this is the most detailed and compelling study of this operation available in English. It is the story of a plan that could have been among military history's boldest coups-de-main, but whose defeat instead shattered Russia's hopes of an easy victory.

Inhalt

Introduction
Origins
The Plan
The Operation
Analysis
Conclusion
Further Reading
Index