Putin's Wars: From Chechnya to Ukraine

Description

A new history of how Putin and his conflicts have inexorably reshaped Russia, including his devastating invasion of Ukraine. Putin's Wars is a timely overview of the conflicts in which Russia has been involved since Vladimir Putin became prime minister and then president of Russia, from the First Chechen War to the two military incursions into Georgia, the annexation of Crimea and the eventual invasion of Ukraine itself. But it also looks more broadly at Putin's recreation of Russian military power and its expansion to include a range of new capabilities, from mercenaries to operatives in a relentless information war against Western powers. This is an engrossing strategic overview of a rejuvenated Russian military and the successes and failures on the battlefield. Thanks to Dr Galeotti's wide-ranging contacts throughout Russia, it is also peppered with anecdotes of military life, personal snapshots of conflicts, and an extraordinary collection of first-hand accounts from serving and retired Russian officers. Russia continues to dominate the news cycle throughout the Western world. There is no better time to understand how and why Putin has involved his armed forces in a variety of conflicts for over two decades. There is no author better placed to demystify the capabilities of the Russian military and give a glimpse into what the future may hold. Putin's Wars is an engaging and important history of a reawakened Russian bear and how it currently operates both at home and abroad to ensure Russia is front and centre on the world stage. Half Title Dedication Title Page Copyright Page Contents Author’s Note List of Illustrations List of Maps and Diagrams maps diagrams Abbreviations Cast of Characters Chronology Chapter 1: Introduction army games russia and war putin Part One: Before Putin Chapter 2: Born in Chaos the soviet disunion the august coup boris yeltsin: the man without the plan Chapter 3: A Military in Crisis an army gone bad nukes for sale? bringing the boys back home empty dreams ‘pasha mercedes’ Chapter 4: The First Chechen War resistance and resentment high hopes, quick defeats the plan taking grozny … … and losing grozny again Chapter 5: The Wars of Russian Assertion moldova’s post-soviet hangover central asia: the tajikistan contingent balkan dash Part Two: Enter Putin Chapter 6: Putin’s Priorities who is vladimir putin? putin in charge putin’s ministers Chapter 7: The Second Chechen War round two retaking grozny operation wolf hunt the creation of ‘kadyrovstan’ lessons learned Chapter 8: Ivanov, the Initiator my name’s ivanov, sergei ivanov the spy and the generals ivanov’s reforms size does matter Chapter 9: Serdyukov, the Enforcer enter the taxman serdyukov’s purge and enter makarov the georgian excuse Chapter 10: Georgia, 2008 (1): Tbilisi’s Move … harbingers provoking a war the georgian advance the battle for tskhinvali the russian advance Chapter 11: Georgia, 2008 (2): … Moscow’s Counter the tide turns the abkhaz front the audit did anything work well? Chapter 12: ‘New Look’ Army command and control: unified battle management the ground forces: divisions to brigades the air forces: rationalized the navy: integrated at last the airborne: survival Part Three: The New Cold War Chapter 13: Shoigu, the Rebuilder who is sergei shoigu? ‘a servant to the tsar, a father to the soldiers’ general gerasimov rearmament and recruitment ready for action Chapter 14: Crimea, 2014 russia and ukraine ‘returning crimea to russia’ taking crimea enter the ‘little green men’ ‘crimea is ours’ an audit of the operation Chapter 15: Donbas, 2014– strelkov’s spark a war of irregulars the ‘northern wind’ the fixing of the conflict stalemate Chapter 16: Lessons of the Donbas War command and control in a proxy war is hard information warfare is a powerful force multiplier implausible deniability has its place drones are the next big thing there was no quick end to the war Chapter 17: Syria, 2015– (1): The Unexpected Intervention a long, bloody war a friend in need heading to hmeymim hmeymin’s hammer turning the tide victory of sorts Chapter 18: Syria, 2015– (2): Lessons of the Syrian Campaign airpower is not (usually) enough mercenaries have their place, but need to know it brutality can work, but hearts and minds matter, too frenemies can find themselves in battle a nice little war is good for business Part Four: Rearming Russia Chapter 19: Rumble for Ruble when comparisons fail ‘let us starve, but let us export’ the metal-eaters buyer beware modernizing the military Chapter 20: Armiya Rossii the battalion tactical group the return of the division heavy metal specialized forces for specialized operations logistics capabilities Chapter 21: The Sky is Russia’s! always in transition the aerospace forces defence of the motherland fist of the motherland heavy lift drones Chapter 22: Contesting the Sea never a naval power rusted, rebuilt organization but what’s it for? Chapter 23: Power Projection: Blue and Black Berets ‘nobody but us!’ by parachute, plane or track the black berets ‘black devils’ ‘where we are, there is victory!’ underwater sentinels Chapter 24: The Spetsnaz special people, for special tasks tip of the spear putin’s spetsnaz the special operations command Chapter 25: The Nuclear Backstop post-soviet armageddon rail, road and tube under the waves strategic aviation space forces modernization and magic why nukes matter so much Part Five: The Future Chapter 26: Political Warfare the rise of the spooks hybrid, ambiguous, non-linear, political outsourced warfighters information warfare Chapter 27: New Generation Warfare small wars limited deployments big wars escalation, de-escalation and lesser apocalypses Chapter 28: The Challenges of the Future the western flank the turbulent north caucasus … … and the turbulent south caucasus, too central asia: instability and jihad china, the great frenemy Chapter 29: Ukraine 2022: Putin’s Last War? dreaming of a ‘special military operation’ not the generals’ war a police action, not a war from kyiv to the donbas how hubris destroyed a military deadlock Chapter 30: Conclusions: The Eurasian Sparta? a nation under arms? the military myth? the security state? a weak hand played well? after putin? Notes Selected English-language Bibliography Index Plates