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A cutting-edge investigation of how Russia makes war.
Russian strategy in the twenty-first century has been described in terms of ‘hybrid’ warfare, an approach characterised by measures short of war, such as cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns. But as the invasion of Ukraine has brutally demonstrated, conventional armed violence remains a key element of Russian power.
In Blitzkrieg and the Russian art of war, Andrew Monaghan offers a high-level view of Russian thinking about warfare. Drawing on extensive Russian sources, he addresses important questions that have been overlooked by most Western commentators: what is the military leadership’s distinctive idea of twenty-first-century blitzkrieg? How does it understand holistic territorial defence? How does it manage the shifting balance between offence and defence?
Introducing key concepts from Russian military thinking, Blitzkrieg and the Russian art of war is a crucial resource for understanding Russia’s resurgent role on the global stage and the devastating threat the country poses to the international order.
‘Long awaited, this meticulously researched analysis of the Soviet and Russian way in war is rooted in a deep understanding of Russian mentality and strategic culture. Every officer in every NATO member state should read it!’
Beatrice Heuser, author of Flawed Strategy: Why Smart Leaders Make Bad Decisions
'A compelling, sophisticated guide to Russian ways of war, from Peter the Great to Putin and beyond.'
Andrew Lambert, author of The British Way of War
'Forget clichés about "hybrid wars" and "little green men". Russia is waging war up front in an age of blood and iron. Andrew Monaghan is an incisive guide to Moscow's view of war. He takes his deep knowledge and intellectual firepower to decades of half-truths and buzzwords. Amateurs, take cover.'
Patrick Porter, author of How to Survive a Hostile World: Power, Politics and the Case for Realism
‘With this extraordinary book, Andrew Monaghan once again proves that he is one of this generation’s most creative and insightful scholars of the Russian military. This is a crucial and necessary corrective to much mythmaking about the Soviet and Russian military by a scholar at the top of his game.’
Michael B. Petersen, US Naval War College
‘For scholars and practitioners, this book is an essential optics for understanding the past, present and future of the Russian way in war, across all domains of warfare, on all levels of command. A brilliant accomplishment at a time when it is most needed.’
Dima Adamsky, author of The Russian Way of Deterrence
Introduction: war returns to Europe
1 What is “war” to the Russians, anyway?
2 Winning revolutionary war
3 Operation Barbarossa and the Great Victory
4 Winning a war in the nuclear age
5 War in the information age
6 A twenty-first-century blitzkrieg
Conclusion: Russian way(s) in war
Index