In 2014, Russia invaded Ukraine, effortlessly annexed the Crimea Peninsula, and started an insurgency in Eastern Ukraine. Russia's methods of war helped thwart Ukraine's goal of joining the EU. Through deception and reflexive control, Russia has disguised warfare as something else, all while incorporating information operations, cyber operations, and Spetsnaz to achieve positions of advantage in war. The Second Chechen War (1999-2000), Russo-Georgian War (2008), and the Russo-Ukrainian War (2014- ) offer deeper understanding of these tools of Russian warfare.

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