Book Launch: Battleground Ukraine. From Independence to the War with Russia by Adrian Karatnycky

Battleground Ukraine. From Independence to the War with Russia by Adrian Karatnycky. Yale University Press. 2024, 368 pp.

In 1991, after seventy years of imperial Soviet rule, Ukraine became an independent country. Since 2022, it has been fighting an existential war against an unprovoked, brutal, and ongoing invasion by Russia. At the center of its resistance is the resilience of a united people.   Ukraine expert Adrian Karatnycky provides an eyewitness account of the history of the modern Ukrainian state and of the nation through the tenures of the six presidents who have led Ukraine since the collapse of the USSR, including Volodymyr Zelensky. Karatnycky shows how—despite the influence of corrupt oligarchs, pressures from Russia, and the legacies of Soviet rule—an inclusive and united Ukrainian nation has emerged that inspires the world as it defends the principle that states and peoples have the right to their national sovereignty.

Adrian Karatnycky is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and co-director of the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter. Through the council’s Ukraine program, as a labor union official, and as CEO of Freedom House, he has been deeply engaged in Ukraine for over three decades. He has written about Ukraine for leading newspapers and journals including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy, where he is a regular commentator.

Reviews and Praise

“Fascinating and highly informative. . . . Mr. Karatnycky . . . has been studying Ukraine for decades and is especially well placed to tell its story and offer a convincing analysis of the fateful turns in Ukraine’s past as well as a picture of its possible future.”—Arthur Herman, Wall Street Journal

Listed by Wall Street Journal among “12 Books to Read: The Best Reviews of June”

“An authoritative account [and] an important addition to the literature. . . . Karatnycky combines eyewitness accounts with historical analysis, adding depth and insight to the bulletins of war.”—Kirkus Reviews

“[A] comprehensive account of Ukraine’s recent history by a writer who is thoroughly familiar with Ukraine’s identity, international context and the intricacies of Ukraine’s cultural and historic contemporary developments.”—Katya Soldak, Forbes