Ukraine at War
The Wall Street Journal’s Yaroslav Trofimov is the
best war reporter in the business. Here, in a very personal account, Trofimov
covers the first year of Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invaders that
began on February 24, 2022. To Trofimov
the war is very personal as he was born and grew up in Kyiv. The places he knew
as boy were now targets of Russian bombs and missiles. Indeed, Trofimov was in
Kyiv when the shooting started.
As a reporter he was present at the major battles of
the war starting with Russia’s failed air assault on Hostomel Airport. Had that
attack succeeded the war would have been over in weeks. At great personal risk
he covered Ukraine’s initial counterattack from the Kyiv front which pushed
back the Russian forces. Indeed, while I was following the war from afar, I
witnessed on YouTube a perfectly executed ambush of Russian tank forces. I was
far away and safe; Trofimov was up close and many times he was at great
personal risk.
Trofimov takes us to the battles Izyum, Kharkiv and
Kherson where once great cities were leveled to the ground by artillery and
drone attacks. Much of the success of the Ukrainian army can be attributed to
the West supplying Javelin antitank missiles and the HIMARS mobile rocket
system. To be sure Ukraine was grateful for the western aid, but in many cases,
it was too little too late. Trofimov argues, and I agree, that had the West
gone all in from the beginning Ukraine would have won the war in a year. Had
the aid come earlier the meatgrinder of Bakhmut would have likely been avoided
where Ukrainian forces battled it out with Yevgeny Prigozhin Wagner Group of
criminals.
Aside from covering the war in the field, Trofimov
interviews Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and army chief Valeriy
Zaluzhy. And he covers the arrival of the various European heads of state that
show up in Kyiv to offer moral support and additional arms,
Trofimov is correct in viewing the start of the war in 2014 with Russia’s takeover of Crimea. I argued then that it was a wake-up call for the West. ( See: Shulmaven: The Ukraine: What is to be Done ) Unfortunately, that warning was unheeded and now after much devastation the war enters its third year. Where are the promised F-16 fighter jets? Ukraine still waits.
Trofimov gave us his first draft of history with his Wall Street Journal stories. This book represents the second draft and hopefully there will soon be a third draft that ends with a Russian retreat from all Ukrainian territory.
For the full Amazon URL see: Ukraine at War (amazon.com)
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