This winter, Russia massed more than 100,000 troops along Ukraine’s borders, sparking fears of a wider war with repercussions for the entire European continent. A ground invasion of Ukraine is a war that Russia would likely win — but at a very high cost in blood and treasure.
Since 2014, the Ukrainian government has rebuilt its regular military into a formidable fighting force. With a core cadre of officers and enlisted personnel who have been hardened by eight years of constant combat in the Donbas, Ukraine’s military is rapidly modernizing its equipment and professionalizing its personnel. Moreover, Ukrainian civil society has already demonstrated its resolve to mount a nationwide resistance campaign against a large-scale Russian incursion.
After nearly eight years, the war in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region is far from over. Along a fortified front line, Ukraine’s military continues to fight against a combined force of Russian regulars and conscripts drawn from the occupied Donbas territories.
The February 2015 Minsk II cease-fire froze the Donbas conflict along its current boundaries and generally limited its intensity by banning certain heavy weapons. But combat never ended. And with two of Europe’s largest land armies trading fire every day in the Donbas, there’s always the chance that this static, stalemated conflict will escalate into a far bigger and deadlier disaster.
Peterson will discuss the current conditions on the front lines in eastern Ukraine, the evolution of Ukraine’s military since 2014, and the potential for a nationwide irregular resistance campaign should Russia embark on a full-scale invasion.
Nolan Peterson is a war correspondent who has reported extensively from the front lines in eastern Ukraine since August 2014. A former US Air Force special operations pilot with combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, Peterson’s observations from Ukraine’s battlefields have influenced policymakers at the highest levels of US government. A 2004 graduate of the US Air Force Academy, Peterson speaks French and Russian and holds multiple master’s degrees. He resides in Kyiv and is currently senior editor for Coffee or Die Magazine. Peterson’s military memoir, Why Soldiers Miss War, was published by Casemate Publishers in 2019.
Since 2014, the Ukrainian government has rebuilt its regular military into a formidable fighting force. With a core cadre of officers and enlisted personnel who have been hardened by eight years of constant combat in the Donbas, Ukraine’s military is rapidly modernizing its equipment and professionalizing its personnel. Moreover, Ukrainian civil society has already demonstrated its resolve to mount a nationwide resistance campaign against a large-scale Russian incursion.
After nearly eight years, the war in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region is far from over. Along a fortified front line, Ukraine’s military continues to fight against a combined force of Russian regulars and conscripts drawn from the occupied Donbas territories.
The February 2015 Minsk II cease-fire froze the Donbas conflict along its current boundaries and generally limited its intensity by banning certain heavy weapons. But combat never ended. And with two of Europe’s largest land armies trading fire every day in the Donbas, there’s always the chance that this static, stalemated conflict will escalate into a far bigger and deadlier disaster.
Peterson will discuss the current conditions on the front lines in eastern Ukraine, the evolution of Ukraine’s military since 2014, and the potential for a nationwide irregular resistance campaign should Russia embark on a full-scale invasion.
Nolan Peterson is a war correspondent who has reported extensively from the front lines in eastern Ukraine since August 2014. A former US Air Force special operations pilot with combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, Peterson’s observations from Ukraine’s battlefields have influenced policymakers at the highest levels of US government. A 2004 graduate of the US Air Force Academy, Peterson speaks French and Russian and holds multiple master’s degrees. He resides in Kyiv and is currently senior editor for Coffee or Die Magazine. Peterson’s military memoir, Why Soldiers Miss War, was published by Casemate Publishers in 2019.