Our Enemies Will Vanish - The Russian Invasion And Ukraine's War Of Independence

A revelatory eyewitness account of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and heroism of the Ukrainian resistance by Pulitzer Prize finalist Yaroslav Trofimov, the chief foreign-affairs correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Yaroslav Trofimov has spent months on end at the heart of the conflict, very often on its front lines. In this authoritative account, he traces the war's decisive moments--from the battle for Kyiv to more recently the gruelling and bloody arm wrestle involving the Wagner group over Bakhmut--to show how Ukraine and its allies have turned the tide against Russia, one of the world's great military powers, in a modern-day battle of David and Goliath. Putin had intended to conquer and annex Ukraine with a vicious blitzkrieg, redrawing the map of Europe in a few short weeks with seismic geopolitical consequences. But in the face of this existential threat, the Ukrainian people fought back, turning what looked like certain defeat into a great moral victory, even as the territorial battle continues to seesaw to this day. This is the story of the epic bravery of the Ukrainian people--people Trofimov knows very well.

For Trofimov, this war is deeply personal. He grew up in Kyiv and his family has lived there for generations. With deep empathy and local understanding, Trofimov tells the story of how everyday Ukrainian citizens--doctors, computer programmers, businesspeople, and schoolteachers--risked their lives and lost loved ones. He blends their brave and tragic stories with expert military analysis, providing unique insight into the thinking of Ukrainian leadership and mapping out the decisive stages of what has become a perilous war for Ukraine, the Putin regime, and indeed, the world.

This brutal, catastrophic struggle is unfolding on another continent, but the United States and its NATO allies have become deeply implicated. As the war drags on, it threatens to engulf the world. We cannot look away. At once heart-breaking and inspiring, Our Enemies Will Vanish is a riveting, vivid, and first-hand account of the Ukrainian refusal to surrender. It is the story of ordinary people fighting not just for their homes and their families but for justice and democracy itself.

THE COMPELLING ACCOUNT FROM THE FRONT LINES OF THE WAR IN UKRAINE

FINALIST FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE

FINALIST FOR THE PETERSON LITERARY PRIZE

‘A stunning work of eyewitness reportage and literary nuance. Clear-eyed, memorable. An instant classic’ STEVE COLL, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Ghost Wars

‘Brilliant and stirring. By layering detail upon telling detail, Trofimov builds up a vivid picture of how the men and women of Ukraine repulsed the Russian blitzkrieg with cleverness and courage’ Economist

‘For verve, knowledge and detail Trofimov can seldom be beaten and his writing is rich in local colour’ The Times

‘Part war correspondence, part road trip.Captures some of the most difficult, gruesome stories of the war. Those details are so intense that they sharpen everything around them’ Washington Post

‘A fast-paced,unflinching witness narrative of the war’s first year, perceptive in its accounts of Russian overconfidence and the inventive, makeshift ways in which Ukrainians fought back against a larger force invading on three fronts’ Financial Times

‘Achieves the highest level of war reporting: a tough, detailed account that nevertheless reads like a great novel’ SEBASTIAN JUNGER, bestselling author of The Perfect Storm