An authoritative analysis of how Putin's Russia conquered the Crimea
in 2014 using 'grey zone' warfare techniques, blending operations by
anonymous special forces with cyber, sabotage, and propaganda.
Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 was almost bloodless - fought as
much through propaganda, cyberattacks and subversion as by force of
arms - but it is crucial for our understanding of both modern warfare
and recent Russian history. Ironically, this slick triumph eventually
led to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the largest and costliest
conventional war in Europe since 1945.
This is a fascinating account of the Crimea conquest from a supremely
qualified expert on modern Russian forces. Illustrated throughout, it
explores how Russia developed its new model of 'hybrid' or 'grey zone'
warfare, and planned and deployed it against Crimea, from the
choreographed appearance of 'spontaneous' protesters through to the
deployment of unbadged Russian elite forces.
In this book Mark Galeotti explores the lessons that Russia, Ukraine,
and the West took from it - correctly and mistakenly - and how this
apparently textbook operation sowed the seeds that would erupt so
catastrophically in 2022.