Russia’s thinking on new wars and its full-scale invasion of Ukraine
Journal: Defence Studies
Year: 2024

Russia’s poor military performance in the early stages of the full-scale war in Ukraine (2022-) has been attributed to various causes. This article considers possible intellectual causes of Russia’s poor performance. Reviewing public Russian military and security discussions on new wars in the years prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion, it argues that Russian operational planning on Ukraine aligned with key assumptions about new wars. In particular, the Russian leadership's failure to acknowled