An authentic analysis of how Putin's Russia conquered Crimea in 2014, using 'gray zone' warfare techniques, combining operations of anonymous special forces with cyberattacks, sabotage, and propaganda.

The annexation of Crimea in 2014 was almost bloodless - conducted as much through propaganda, cyberattacks, and subversion as with the use of weapons - but it is critical to our understanding of modern warfare and contemporary Russian history. This success ultimately led to the massive invasion of Ukraine, the largest and most costly classical war in Europe since 1945.

This is a captivating account of the conquest of Crimea by a highly qualified expert in modern Russian forces. Illustrated throughout, it examines how Russia developed its new 'hybrid' or 'gray zone' warfare model and planned and implemented it against Crimea, from the carefully staged appearance of 'spontaneous' demonstrators to the deployment of unidentified elite Russian forces.

In this book, Mark Galeotti explores the lessons learned by Russia, Ukraine, and the West from this operation – both right and wrong – and how this seemingly exemplary operation sowed the seeds that would catastrophically explode in 2022.