Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday (February 25) with explosions heard across the country. Ukraine has claimed that more than 100 civilians and soldiers have been killed so far after Russia's wide-ranging attacks. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has left people with several answered questions as to What is happening in Ukraine? Why is it happening? What led to the start of the conflict? What Russia is trying to achieve? How scared should we be for Ukrainians and the world? If this could be the start of the war in Europe? and many more. In these times of confusion, and despair several misleading pictures, videos and a lot of content related to the Ukraine-Russia conflict is floating on the internet.
To avoid insignificant information and get a better understanding of events there are some books that have been written by Russian-Ukrainian scholars, journalists and researchers which explain the deep-seated conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine by Serhii Plokhy (Basic Books, 2015)
Written by Serhii Plokhy, a professor of Ukrainian history at Harvard University and director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute has given an overview of 2,000 years of Ukrainian history.
Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days Of The Soviet Empire by David Remnick (Vintage, 1994)
A Pulitzer Prize-winner David Remnick has written about the collapse of the Soviet Union. In order to understand what led to the rise of Vladimir Putin, read this book to first understand the fall of the Soviet Union.
The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin by Masha Gessen (Riverhead, 2012)
This book gives an outstanding account of how a KGB foreign intelligence officer for16 years, rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel before he resigned in 1991 to begin a political career in Saint Petersburg and became one of the most influential, powerful personalities in the world. Gessen, a Russian American journalist and outspoken critic of Putin in this book has written a biography of Putin's rise and how he destroyed hope of a democratic post-Soviet Russia.
The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia by Masha Gessen (Riverhead, 2017)
Award-winning journalist Gessen in her book follows the lives of four people born at what promised to be the dawn of democracy in the former Soviet Union. Each of them came of age with unprecedented expectations, some as the children and grandchildren of the very architects of the new Russia and how they surrendered to autocracy.
The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America by Timothy Snyder (Tim Duggan Books, 2018):
Timothy Snyder mentions how Russia found allies among nationalists, oligarchs, and radicals everywhere, and its drive to dissolve Western institutions, states, and values found resonance within the West itself. In this forceful and unsparing work of contemporary history, based on vast research as well as personal reporting, Snyder goes beyond the headlines to expose the true nature of the threat to democracy and law.
In Wartime: Stories From Ukraine by Tim Judah (Tim Duggan Books, 2016)
Tim who is an economist reporter gives an account of the on-ground report of Ukraine’s frontlines. He speaks to everyone including historians, politicians, poets and ordinary people intertwining their day to day lives. This book is a must-read if you want to understand what life is like for everyday Ukrainians living in conflict.
