The Russo-Ukrainian War through the Eyes of a Historian

Abstract

Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the start of the largest European conflict since the end of World War II came as a shock to the world at large. Ukrainians have resisted a superior military; the West has united, while Russia has managed to overcome international isolation and continues the war that undermines the foundations of international order. Why did Putin start the war―and why has it unfolded in previously unimaginable ways, including the occupation of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant? The lecture will provide answers to these and other related questions by tracing the origins of the newest European war and explaining the reasons for the return of the Cold War to the very same part of the world where it ended thirty years earlier. The presentation will be based on Plokhii’s book, The Russo-Ukrainian-War: A Return of History (2023).