Russia's War

In the early hours of 24 February 2022, Russian forces attacked Ukraine. The brutality of the Russian assault has horrified the world. But Russians themselves appear to be watching an entirely different war - one in which they are the courageous underdogs and kind-hearted heroes successfully battling a malign Ukrainian foe.

Russia analyst Jade McGlynn takes us on a journey into this parallel military and political universe to reveal the sometimes monstrous, sometimes misconstrued attitudes behind Russian majority backing for the invasion. Drawing on media analysis and interviews with ordinary citizens, officials and foreign-policy elites in Russia and Ukraine, McGlynn explores the grievances, lies and half-truths that pervade the Russian worldview. She also exposes the complicity of many Russians, who have invested too deeply in the Kremlin's alternative narratives to regard the war as Putin's foolhardy mission. In their eyes, this is Russia's war - against Ukraine, against the West, against evil - and there can be no turning back.

Auteur

Jade McGlynn is a specialist in Russian media, memory and foreign policy in the Department of War Studies, King's College London. She is the author of Memory Makers: The Politics of the Past in Putin's Russia and frequently writes and comments for the media, including CNN, BBC, The Times, The Spectator, The Telegraph, MSNBC, The Diplomat, and Foreign Policy.