The book also details Russia's attempt to abort the Ukrainian revolution through threats, economic pressure, lies, and intimidation. When all of that failed, the Kremlin exacted revenge by annexing Ukraine's territory of Crimea and fomenting and sustaining a hybrid war in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 13,000 people and continues to this day.
Ukraine's Revolt, Russia's Revenge is based on the author's own observations and the multitude of reports of his Embassy colleagues who were eyewitnesses to a crucial event in contemporary history.

Christopher M. Smith is a career U.S. Foreign Service Officer who is currently at National Defense University. He has served in diplomatic positions in Estonia, Lesotho, China, Ukraine, and Washington, DC.

An eyewitness account by a U.S. diplomat of Russia's brazen attempt to undo the democratic revolution in Ukraine

Told from the perspective of a U.S. diplomat in Kiev, this book is the true story of Ukraine's anti-corruption revolution in 2013—14, Russia's intervention and invasion of that nation, and the limited role played by the United States. It puts into a readable narrative the previously unpublished reporting by seasoned U.S. diplomatic and military professionals, a wealth of information on Ukrainian high-level and street-level politics, a broad analysis of the international context, and vivid descriptions of people and places in Ukraine during the EuroMaidan Revolution. The book also counters Russia's disinformation narratives about the revolution and America's role in it.

While focusing on a single country during a dramatic three-year period, the book's universal themes—among them, truth versus lies, democracy versus autocracy—possess a broader urgency for our times. That urgency burns particularly hot for the United States and all other countries that are the targets of Russia's cyber warfare and other forms of political skullduggery.

From his posting in U.S. Embassy Kiev (2012-14), the author observed and reported first-hand on the EuroMaidan Revolution that wrested power from corrupt pro-Kremlin Ukrainian autocrat Viktor Yanukovych.

The book also details Russia's attempt to abort the Ukrainian revolution through threats, economic pressure, lies, and intimidation. When all of that failed, the Kremlin exacted revenge by annexing Ukraine's territory of Crimea and fomenting and sustaining a hybrid war in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 13,000 people and continues to this day.

Ukraine's Revolt, Russia's Revenge is based on the author's own observations and the multitude of reports of his Embassy colleagues who were eyewitnesses to a crucial event in contemporary history.

Contents:

Preface

Acknowledgments

Prologue

1. My Road to Kyiv

2. Building Ukraine, from the Hetmans to Maidan

3. Corruption 101: My Introduction to Ukrainian Realities

4. Kyiv's Tug-of-War: Putin Tilts the Balance

5. Blood-Stained Granite

6. Maidan's Poetics versus Steel Shields and Black Helmets

7. Rules of Dictatorship, Fires of Resistance

8. "Who benefits from whipping up hysteria in our quiet little Crimea?”

9. Three Days in Hell: February 18-20, 2014

10. The Kremlin Fog Machine Hits Overdrive

11. Stealing Simferopol

12. Locking Down Crimea, Prying Open the East

13. Shockwaves of Terror in Donbas

14. The Lie Metastasizes

Epilogue

Index