This book proceeds from a simple question – “What prompted the Russian-Ukrainian war?” But the answers are presented not in the analyses of historians and political scientists, but through primary sources: public statements and reporting from political actors, journalists and commentators addressed to Russian-speaking audiences, both domestic and foreign.
The picture that emerges is that the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 was preceded not just by preparatory actions of the Russian military – joint exercises in post-Soviet space and the buildup of troops at the Ukrainian border – but by years of propaganda and persuasion targeted at the Russian elite and ordinary citizens. These rhetorical efforts emerged particularly strongly with the outbreak of the “Revolution of Dignity” (2013-2014) and continue with increasing insistence to this day.
Our aim is not to espouse or glorify the narrative of the Putin regime. Instead, we present it for academic study, along with immediate reactions to it, both laudatory and critical.
Most of the articles, speeches, interviews and reports featured here originally appeared in East View’s English-language periodical The Current Digest of the Russian Press. Coverage starts during the 2014 Russian occupation of the Crimea and continues right up to the invasion.
We hope that this compendium of primary sources – many of them published in English for the first time – will offer scholars and other interested readers fresh insight into the power of words to move nations.
Enjoy a 20% pre-publication discount on your print copy of From Words to War. Use code WORDS20 during checkout. Offer expires December 31, 2024. Books will ship at the start of 2025.
Publisher’s Preface
Introduction
Independence Square Protesters Pick Up Cobblestones
Antirevolutionary Peninsula: Crimea Holds Its Ground
Kiev Tries to Save Crimea
For the Ordinary Ukrainian
Arrogance and Paranoia
The Crimea a Trojan Horse for Ordinary Russians
Donetsk Basin Proclaims Itself a Republic
Why Is It Hard for Moscow to Compromise With Kiev?
Vladimir Putin: ‘We Have Nothing to Fear’
Kiev Threatens Moscow With Countermeasures
Ukrafghanistan
Ukraine: Difficult Present, Complicated Future
Strelkov Switches Focus to Internal Enemies
The Outcome of the Novorossia Elections
Kiev De Facto Recognizes Separation of Donetsk Basin
The Siemens Incident: How Russia Is Losing Its Sovereignty
Five Stars: How Crimea Marked Fifth Anniversary of Reunification With Russia
Sincere Recognition — Russian President Vladimir Putin Decides to Recognize the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics
Approving the Agreements
Passenger Liner Shot Down Over Ukraine
Changes on the Western Front
Specter of the Russian Army Haunting Ukraine
Counterattack
The First Russian-Ukrainian War in Questions and Answers
Withdrawal Maneuver or Distraction Maneuver?
Peace Enforcement in Debaltsevo
War Remains Inevitable; There Is No Stopping the Tide
‘Strange War’ in Donetsk Basin
War Again: What Lies Behind the Escalation in the Donetsk Basin?
Who Benefits From Escalation of Conflict Between Moscow and Kiev?
The Black Sea: First Blood of a Possible Winter War
If War Comes Tomorrow: The Real Reason Why Merkel Sought Conversation With Putin
‘We Know From Experience What Full Morgues Are Like’
‘Kiev Needs a Valve to Let Off Steam’
‘The Kremlin’s Calculations Have Changed’
Threat to Russian Realpolitik
Russia Unlikely to Invade Ukraine Despite Ratcheting Tensions, Experts Believe
Alarming Noise
Kiev Sits Down at Negotiating Table, but Without Donetsk
Negotiations Launched in Donetsk
Negotiations on the Status of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics May Go on for Years
Another Ceasefire
Declaration by the President of the Russian Federation, the President of Ukraine, the President of the French Republic and the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany in Support of the Package of Measures Adopted Feb. 12, 2015, for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements
The Same Old Story
No One to Monitor Situation in Donetsk Basin
Ukraine Could Fall Under Outside Management
Please Come to the Table
Kremlin’s Peacemaking Consent
Why Putin Endorsed Idea of UN Peacekeepers in Donetsk Basin
All Quiet on the Normandy Front
What Was Signed in Minsk
Ukraine Faces Georgian Scenario: Normandy Four Summit Results
Donetsk Basin Gets Council
Stumbling-Block Summit
Russia Makes Last Stand for Mediator Status
President Yanukovich: ‘The Supreme Rada Is Illegitimate’
Unofficially Recognized
What Poroshenko Is Offering Donetsk Basin
‘Great Leap,’ Ukrainian-Style
Ukraine Turning Into a Potential Russian Military Adversary
Donetsk Basin Not Mentioned in New Ukrainian Constitution
‘Kiev’s Blockade of the Donetsk Basin a Real Shot in the Foot’
Minsk Bites the Dust
Autocephaly to Become Canonical
‘Moscow Is Processing the Results of the Ukrainian Election’
Zelensky’s Referendum: Ukraine the Main Pig in a Poke
Three Problems Facing Vladimir Zelensky
Zelensky Team Planning to Redraw Map of Ukraine
Ukraine on the Cusp of Local Elections
Operation Child’s Play
The ‘Stars and Stripes’ Course of the Ukrainian President
Missile Defense System in the Ukrainian Steppe
Ukraine Outside NATO
Missile Crisis: Are We in for a New Arms Race?
A Secure World
NATO Keeps Moving Closer: Only the Military Gains from Budget War
‘NATO Is Conducting Maneuvers in Ukraine Every Six to Eight Weeks’
War Without Victory
Putting Ukraine Over a Barrel
Eastern Formula
Russia Has Been Warned: Don’t Touch Ukraine!
Forward to the Past
The West is Unlikely to Accept Russia’s NATO Demands — And the Kremlin Knows It
No, No and No
Pressing Demands
U.S., NATO Offer Security Dialogue in Leaked Response to Russia
‘On the Eve of War?’ — Appeal of the All-Russian Officers Assembly to the President and Citizens of the Russian Federation
Pressing Answer
Why There Will Be War in Ukraine
Putin’s Fulton Speech
President Putin’s Crimean Confession
Shoring Up an Agreement
Wild Card
Why Is Everything Not as It Should Be?
Sergei Lavrov: We Won’t Leave Donetsk Basin Residents in the Lurch
Putin Preaches to His Faithful
Was There Even a West? What Sergei Lavrov Can Be Happy About
‘The Anti-Russia Project Has No Place in a Sovereign Ukraine’
‘We Are Still a Triune People’
Putin’s Article Is an Ultimatum, but Not to Ukraine
Russia Shouldn’t Negotiate With ‘Vassal’ Ukraine, Ex-President Medvedev Says
The Waiting Game: Putin’s Global Strategy Briefly Summarized by Medvedev
Offensive Crime and Punishment
Right to Sovereignty
Statement by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Regarding the Events in Ukraine
Address by the President of the Russian Federation (Mar. 18, 2014)
Protocol on the Outcome of Consultations of the Trilateral Contact Group on Joint Steps Aimed at the Implementation of the Peace Plan of the Ukrainian President P. Poroshenko and the Initiatives of Russian President V. Putin
Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements
Speech by Sergei Lavrov, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, at the Munich Security Conference
Being Open, Despite the Past
On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians
Why Contacts With Current Ukrainian Leadership Are Pointless
Treaty Between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Security Guarantees
Agreement on Measures to Ensure the Security of the Russian Federation and Member States of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Address by the President of the Russian Federation (Feb. 24, 2022)