Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Yaroslav Trofimov has spent months on end at the heart of the conflict, very often on its front lines. In this authoritative account, he traces the war's decisive moments--from the battle for Kyiv to more recently the grueling and bloody arm wrestle involving the Wagner group over Bakhmut--to show how Ukraine and its allies have turned the tide against Russia, one of the world's great military powers, in a modern-day battle of David and Goliath. Putin had intended to conquer and annex Ukraine with a vicious blitzkrieg, redrawing the map of Europe in a few short weeks with seismic geopolitical consequences. But in the face of this existential threat, the Ukrainian people fought back, turning what looked like certain defeat into a great moral victory, even as the territorial battle continues to seesaw to this day. This is the story of the epic bravery of the Ukrainian people--people Trofimov knows very well.

"Brief portions of this work originally appeared in news articles written by the author and published in The Wall Street Journal during 2022 and 2023"--Title page verso.

The "people's republics" --"Love it or not, endure it, my beauty" -- The last days of peace -- "We will fight. We will not surrender" -- Ukraine bares its teeth -- "Russian warship, go fuck yourself" -- "We are all here" -- The war won't be a walk in the park -- Black hawk down without black hawks -- Southern betrayal -- Assault on the city of Mary -- "I was born in Kyiv, and I will die in Kyiv" -- "Every third person in my shelter is Jewish" -- Russian tanks catch fire really well -- A really dirty war in Kharkiv -- Mariupol's neighborhood of apocalypses -- Russia's rout in Voznesensk -- "The city is being leveled" -- The tulips of Mykolaiv -- The Istanbul surprise -- Bludgeoned in Bucha -- Howitzer time -- Azovstal -- "There is no more time for thinking" -- Wagner's "Flower of Popasna" -- The Bilohorivka crossing -- Life and death in Severodonetsk -- "Tidy up after yourself, you're not a Muscovite" -- Unleash the Kraken -- Kyiv lives -- Losing Luhansk -- Himars o'clock -- "We're not a bunny" -- "Time for some nonverbal communication" -- More shells than Stalingrad -- Into the steppes of Kherson -- The Karkiv breakthrough -- Mobilization and annexation -- East of Oskil -- Back to Donbas -- The battle of Terny -- The fall of Lyman -- "Happy birthday, Mr. President" -- "The most difficult decisions" -- Kherson, free but empty -- The Bakhmut meatgrinder -- Leopards freed -- "Nobody loves losers."