Putin's Wars

Mark Galeotti is a scholar of Russian security affairs with a career spanning academia, government service 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 is the author of over 25 books including A Short History of Russia (Penguin, 2021).

The prolific military chronicler and analyst Mark Galeotti has produced exactly the right book at the right time.

• Author’s Note List of Illustrations List of Maps and Diagrams Abbreviations Cast of Characters Chronology 1. Introduction PART ONE: BEFORE PUTIN2. Born in Chaos 3. A Military in Crisis 4. The First Chechen War 5. The Wars of Russian Assertion PART TWO: ENTER PUTIN6. Putin’s Priorities 7. The Second Chechen War 8. Ivanov, the Initiator 9. Serdyukov, the Enforcer 10. Georgia, 2008 (1): Tbilisi’s Move … 11. Georgia, 2008 (2): … Moscow’s Counter 12. ‘New Look’ Army PART THREE: THE NEW COLD WAR13. Shoigu, the Rebuilder 14. Crimea, 2014 15. Donbas, 2014– 16. Lessons of the Donbas War 17. Syria, 2015– (1): The Unexpected Intervention 18. Syria, 2015– (2): Lessons of the Syrian Campaign PART FOUR: REARMING RUSSIA19. Rumble for Ruble 20. Armiya Rossii 21. The Sky is Russia’s! 22. Contesting the Sea 23. Power Projection: Blue and Black Berets 24. The Spetsnaz 25. The Nuclear Backstop PART FIVE: THE FUTURE26. Political Warfare 27. New Generation Warfare 28. The Challenges of the Future 29. Ukraine 2022: Putin’s Last War? 30. Conclusions: The Eurasian Sparta?31. Ukraine: A Dispatch on a War in Progress Notes Selected English-language Bibliography Index