The Russia-Ukraine war is a multifaceted beast. It ranges from fighting on the ground to high diplomacy, from domestic anti-war protests to international weapon supplies, from justification through sham referenda to coercion via economic sabotage, and from operational misdirection to covering up war crimes. There are close connections between these facets: the collapse of a front leads to the discovery of mass graves; the delivery of weapon systems depends on Zelensky’s appeal to the international community; sham referenda followed by annexation enable accusations of unwillingly mobilized soldiers who refuse to defend the motherland.

The volume sheds light on the Russia-Ukraine war, exploring this multitude of facets and their interconnections. Bringing together the expertise of our colleagues at the Netherlands Defense Academy (NLDA) allows us to adopt a distinctively interdisciplinary approach, offering uniquely comprehensive and timely reflections on this armed conflict. The 27 chapters in this volume are centered around five themes. The first section covers historical and contemporary narratives, intelligence, digital technologies, and communication strategies. The second provides in-depth analyses of the operational aspects of the war, including warfighting on land, at sea, in the air, as well as in the space and cyber domains. The third section on international involvement covers topics such as sanctions, burden sharing, arms support and implications of the war on international institutions and the world order. The fourth provides analyses of the normative framework that applies to the Russia-Ukraine war. Finally, the fifth section deals with the way armed forces can transform their organizations and learn from this war, and concludes with questions on how and when the Russia-Ukriane war might end.

Maarten Rothman is associate professor of International Security Studies at the Netherlands Defense Academy. His research interests include international theory, ideology, and democratic revolutions.

Lonneke Peperkamp is a full professor of Military Ethics and Leadership and director of the Military Management Studies Research Centre at the Netherlands Defense Academy. She is vice president of the International Society for Military Ethics in Europe.

Sebastiaan Rietjens is a full professor of Intelligence & Security and the director of the War Studies Research Centre at the Netherlands Defense Academy. He also holds a special chair of Intelligence in War and Conflict at Leiden University.

Table of contents 1. Introduction - Lonneke Peperkamp, Maarten Rothman, Sebastiaan Rietjens and Eline Stevens; Section I: Narratives and intelligence; 2. The War on Ukraine: A Warning from History – Floribert Baudet; 3. Caught by Surprise: Warning for Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine – Michelle Hogendoorn, Brema Spoor and Sebastiaan Rietjens; 4. Open-Source Intelligence in the Russia-Ukraine War – Hannah van Beek and Sebastiaan Rietjens; 5. 'The Wise Man Will Be Master of the Stars'. The Use of Twitter by a Military Intelligence Service in Wartime: The Case of the GUR – Peter Schrijver; 6. Morale and Moral Injury among Russian and Ukrainian Combatants – Tine Molendijk; Section II: Warfighting; 7. Putin’s War, a European Tragedy: Why Russia’s War Failed and What It Means for NATO ¬– Frans Osinga
8. Putin’s Miscalculation: The Effectiveness of Russia’s New-type Warfare in Ukraine – Han Bouwmeester; 9. Russian Military Logistics and the Ukraine Conflict: Analyzing Dynamics of Multilevel Alignment – Thijs Cremers, Sieds Haitsma, Gert Schijvenaars, Armand Soeleman, and Paul van Fenema; 10. Explaining Stalemate from a Corbettian Maritime Perspective – Henk Warnar; 11. All Quiet on the Northern Front? Limited War and Covert Action in the Russian-Ukrainian War – Maarten Rothman and Martijn Rouvroije; 12. Assessing the Dogs of Cyberwar: Reflections on the Dynamics of Operations in Cyberspace during the Russo-Ukrainian War - Kraesten Arnold, Peter Pijpers, Paul Ducheine, and Peter Schrijver; 13. The Space Domain and the Russia-Ukraine War – Lonneke Peperkamp and Patrick Bolder; Section III: International involvement; 14. Does the Russia Sanctions Revolution Bring About Change? – Esmée de Bruin, Joop Voetelink, & Jeroen Klomp
15. NATO Members’ Burden Sharing Behaviour in the Aftermath of Russia’s Annexation of Crimea, 2014-2021 - Marion Bogers & Robert Beeres; 16. Contraband of War at Sea: Interference of Arms Support to the Enemy – Martin Fink; 17. Between Multilateralism and Great Power Competition: The Future of European Indivisible and Comprehensive Security – Sabine Mengelberg and Floribert Baudet; 18. The Russia-Ukraine War and the Changing Character of the World Order – Theo Brinkel and Carel Sellmeijer; 19. The West versus the Rest? A Pluralist English School Perspective on the Ukraine War – Jörg Noll and Sonja de Laat; Section IV: Rules and norms; 20. Fighting Justly: The Russo-Ukrainian War and the Usefulness of Morality – Peter Olsthoorn; 21. The ‘Technology War’ and International Law: A Legal Perspective on New Technologies Used in the Ukraine Conflict – Steven van de Put & Marten Zwanenburg; 22. Russian Commercial Warriors on the Battlefield – Thijs Cremers and Han Bouwmeester; 23. A Military Oath for Russian Private Military Security Contractors? Wagner, Putin and the Death of Prigozhin – Allard Wagemaker & Karishma Chafekar; 24. Collecting Evidence of International Crimes in Ukraine: The Role of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee - Monica den Boer, Marieke de Hoon, Jan Roede and Joris van Wijk; Section V: Lessons and ending; 25. Lessons from Ukraine: Benchmark or Significant Exception? – Martijn van der Vorm and Gijs Tuinman; 26. Revisiting the Synthetic Organization: Multi-level Bricolage in Turbulent Environments – Eric-Hans Kramer, Guido van Os, Stefan Soeparman, and Robbert Verhulst; 27. War Diplomacy in Ukraine: Causes and Endings of Russia's Military Invasions – Berma Klein Goldewijk; 28. When Will It End? Assessing the Duration of Putin’s War with Ukraine - Robbert Fokkink and Roy Lindelauf