YURI FELSHTINSKY is a historian of the Russian secret service with close ties to leading defectors. He co-authored bestsellers Blowing Up Russia (Gibson Square) with poisoned KGB Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Litvinenko, and The Age of Assassins: How Putin Poisons Elections (Gibson Square). He was a Fellow at the Hoover Institute, University of Stanford, and the first US citizen to receive a doctorate from the Russian Academy of Sciences. In Ukraine, he led the project to decode the infamous ‘Kuchma tapes’ recording the plot to assassinate a leading Ukrainian journalist. He appears regularly as news commentator on MSNBC, NPR, BBC and Sky TV, and in the central-European and British press. MICHAEL STANCHEV is Professor of History and Head of the History Department at Kharkiv Karazin University, Ukraine, and was an advisor to the Ukraine Foreign Office. He is the author of 17 books, and an Academician of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He regularly publishes scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals, and has lectured in the United States, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan. He lives in Kharkiv with his family.

‘Seizing Ukraine remains the main goal of Putin. Unfortunately, these words, much like the rest of the book, will prove prophetic.’ OLEG KALUGIN, Former KGB General and Head of Counter-Espionage; ‘Historians are blessed with numerous virtues, but bravery is rarely among them. Still, living in a modern world requires fundamental reconsideration of all of the conventional notions regarding Russia and Ukraine, United States and Europe. This book by two brave and scrupulous historians will undoubtedly help the reader to comprehend the present, as well as to live in the future.’ ALEXANDER ETKIND, Professor of History, European University Institute, Florence

• Ukraine: The First Battle of World War III?Introduction: Time will Tell 1 A Thousand Year Wait2 Dawdling in Europe3 Georgiy Gongadze's Assassination4 The Poisoning of Viktor Yushchenko5 The Orange Revolution6 The Sfinx7 A Burglar as President8 The Turning Point, Minsk9 EuroMaidan10 The Mysterious Return of the "Banderites"11 Civil War12 Change of Power or Oligarchs?13 The Invasions of Crimea14 False "Russian Spring"15 "Substitution of Ideas" as a Dance to War16 Do Russians Want War?ConclusionsAppendix - Vladimir Putin: "The Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians"EndnotesIndex

YURI FELSHTINSKY is a historian of the Russian secret service with close ties to leading defectors. He co-authored bestsellers Blowing Up Russia (Gibson Square) with poisoned KGB Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Litvinenko, and The Age of Assassins: How Putin Poisons Elections (Gibson Square). He was a Fellow at the Hoover Institute, University of Stanford, and the first US citizen to receive a doctorate from the Russian Academy of Sciences. In Ukraine, he led the project to decode the infamous ‘Kuchma tapes’ recording the plot to assassinate a leading Ukrainian journalist. He appears regularly as news commentator on MSNBC, NPR, BBC and Sky TV, and in the central-European and British press. MICHAEL STANCHEV is Professor of History and Head of the History Department at Kharkiv Karazin University, Ukraine, and was an advisor to the Ukraine Foreign Office. He is the author of 17 books, and an Academician of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He regularly publishes scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals, and has lectured in the United States, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan. He lives in Kharkiv with his family.

‘Seizing Ukraine remains the main goal of Putin. Unfortunately, these words, much like the rest of the book, will prove prophetic.’ OLEG KALUGIN, Former KGB General and Head of Counter-Espionage; ‘Historians are blessed with numerous virtues, but bravery is rarely among them. Still, living in a modern world requires fundamental reconsideration of all of the conventional notions regarding Russia and Ukraine, United States and Europe. This book by two brave and scrupulous historians will undoubtedly help the reader to comprehend the present, as well as to live in the future.’ ALEXANDER ETKIND, Professor of History, European University Institute, Florence

• Ukraine: The First Battle of World War III?Introduction: Time will Tell 1 A Thousand Year Wait2 Dawdling in Europe3 Georgiy Gongadze's Assassination4 The Poisoning of Viktor Yushchenko5 The Orange Revolution6 The Sfinx7 A Burglar as President8 The Turning Point, Minsk9 EuroMaidan10 The Mysterious Return of the "Banderites"11 Civil War12 Change of Power or Oligarchs?13 The Invasions of Crimea14 False "Russian Spring"15 "Substitution of Ideas" as a Dance to War16 Do Russians Want War?ConclusionsAppendix - Vladimir Putin: "The Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians"EndnotesIndex

YURI FELSHTINSKY is a historian of the Russian secret service with close ties to leading defectors. He co-authored bestsellers Blowing Up Russia (Gibson Square) with poisoned KGB Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Litvinenko, and The Age of Assassins: How Putin Poisons Elections (Gibson Square). He was a Fellow at the Hoover Institute, University of Stanford, and the first US citizen to receive a doctorate from the Russian Academy of Sciences. In Ukraine, he led the project to decode the infamous ‘Kuchma tapes’ recording the plot to assassinate a leading Ukrainian journalist. He appears regularly as news commentator on MSNBC, NPR, BBC and Sky TV, and in the central-European and British press. MICHAEL STANCHEV is Professor of History and Head of the History Department at Kharkiv Karazin University, Ukraine, and was an advisor to the Ukraine Foreign Office. He is the author of 17 books, and an Academician of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He regularly publishes scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals, and has lectured in the United States, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan. He lives in Kharkiv with his family.

‘Seizing Ukraine remains the main goal of Putin. Unfortunately, these words, much like the rest of the book, will prove prophetic.’ OLEG KALUGIN, Former KGB General and Head of Counter-Espionage; ‘Historians are blessed with numerous virtues, but bravery is rarely among them. Still, living in a modern world requires fundamental reconsideration of all of the conventional notions regarding Russia and Ukraine, United States and Europe. This book by two brave and scrupulous historians will undoubtedly help the reader to comprehend the present, as well as to live in the future.’ ALEXANDER ETKIND, Professor of History, European University Institute, Florence

• Ukraine: The First Battle of World War III?Introduction: Time will Tell 1 A Thousand Year Wait2 Dawdling in Europe3 Georgiy Gongadze's Assassination4 The Poisoning of Viktor Yushchenko5 The Orange Revolution6 The Sfinx7 A Burglar as President8 The Turning Point, Minsk9 EuroMaidan10 The Mysterious Return of the "Banderites"11 Civil War12 Change of Power or Oligarchs?13 The Invasions of Crimea14 False "Russian Spring"15 "Substitution of Ideas" as a Dance to War16 Do Russians Want War?ConclusionsAppendix - Vladimir Putin: "The Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians"EndnotesIndex