“Putin wants to restore the Old Russian Empire and cannot stand free democratic prospects in Ukraine, because sooner or later the people of Russia would want to have that kind of lifestyle as well.” —John McCain, 2014 (McCain, 2021)

This is the crossover where historian meets journalist in the jolting realities of the present. I have no idea of how things will turn out in the bruised wheatfields of Ukraine.

Future historians will scrutinize and evaluate my understanding, but we cannot wait for the future. This chapter records how the first pawns were moved in the latest game. Further phases will be reported by other journalists. The end game will come and go, and wise chess analysts will debate the strengths and weaknesses of the moves.

The ground I will cover in this last chapter is the way hostilities began, and how they started to develop in the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Russia hungers after Ukraine with a deep, possessive yearning. In Putin’s mind, and in the consciousness of countless Russians, Ukraine is not meant to be independent.

Ukraine is passionately conscious of its own independent identity, and feels chafed by eight centuries of shackles. Zelensky-led Ukraine sees itself as the independent corner shop that will not sell out to make way for the shopping mall.