Summary of James Rosone & Miranda Watson's Battlefield Ukraine

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 Petro was walking towards Freedom Square, where the rally was taking place, when he noticed his friend Andriy. They had been childhood friends, and Andriy had gotten hit by a riot police truncheon two days earlier. He was still fuming about it.

#2 The government in Kiev sent the Anti-Terrorism Unit to Kharkiv to put down the protest movement. They prepared to arrest as many of the protesters as they could and charge them with crimes against the state. The ring leaders would be charged with treason and fomenting insurrection against the government.

#3 Oleksandr Prasolov was from Kharkiv. He had met his wife in high school and married her before leaving to attend undergraduate university and graduate school in London. After completing his Master Degree in Economics from the London School of Economics in the mid-1990s, he went on to work for a well-known global management consulting firm.

#4 Oleksandr was planning on calling for Eastern Ukraine to be independent from the central government and join the other separatist regions. However, an informant within the separatist movement leaked the plans to the central government, and the Anti-Terrorist Unit arrested Oleksandr and ended the movement before it could spread any further.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822505728

IRB Media

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Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Petro was walking towards Freedom Square, where the rally was taking place, when he noticed his friend Andriy. They had been childhood friends, and Andriy had gotten hit by a riot police truncheon two days earlier. He was still fuming about it.

#2

The government in Kiev sent the Anti-Terrorism Unit to Kharkiv to put down the protest movement. They prepared to arrest as many of the protesters as they could and charge them with crimes against the state. The ring leaders would be charged with treason and fomenting insurrection against the government.

#3

Oleksandr Prasolov was from Kharkiv. He had met his wife in high school and married her before leaving to attend undergraduate university and graduate school in London. After completing his Master Degree in Economics from the London School of Economics in the mid-1990s, he went on to work for a well-known global management consulting firm.

#4

Oleksandr was planning on calling for Eastern Ukraine to be independent from the central government and join the other separatist regions. However, an informant within the separatist movement leaked the plans to the central government, and the Anti-Terrorist Unit arrested Oleksandr and ended the movement before it could spread any further.

#5

The crowd began to chant Oleksandr’s name, and demanded that they separate from the central government. The police responded by tossing tear gas canisters into the crowd. Several speakers on the stage were killed instantly, while others howled in pain as their bodies were riddled with bullets.

#6

The two men tried to make their way out of the square, but the military blocked their paths. The shooting intensified, and the gas cloud from the teargas canisters continued to rise and move closer to them.

Insights from Chapter 2

#1

The American ambassador in Ukraine, Duncan Rice, had to decide how to handle the ongoing conflict in that country. He knew that military force should only be used as a last resort, not a first option. He wanted to stick to diplomacy as much as possible.

#2

After Trump’s election, Duncan saw a chance to distinguish himself from his peers. He quietly began lobbying to be reassigned to Ukraine. He felt he could help mediate the conflict in Ukraine, which had been ongoing for four years.

#3

Volodymyr Groysman, the Ukrainian Prime Minister, was extremely charismatic. He had helped overthrow President Viktor Yanukovych, and had risen to the top of the opposition party. But after four years of conflict, he was losing patience.

#4

The Ukraine was a perfect place to apply economic pressure on Russia, as it had many ties and connections to Russia. However, many people, especially the Secretary of Defense and the CIA Station Chief, wanted to apply military pressure instead.

#5

The 2014 Freedom Square Massacre in Ukraine was the result of a peaceful protest turning violent. It resulted in the death of 28