According to international law, an unprovoked war of aggression, which Vladimir Putin started on February 24th, 2022, constitutes a crime in itself. However, this immense crime is composed of hundreds and thousands of smaller crimes: moving into Ukrainian territory, capturing cities and villages, meeting fierce resistance, Russian soldiers and mercenaries killed and raped civilians, unlawfully imprisoned activists and dissenters, tortured and disappeared innocent people, while their commanders gave criminal orders and helped to cover the crimes. 

This is the first book to present a comprehensive narrative of how these crimes are committed, exposed and punished. It is based on exclusive in-depth interviews, as well as on extensive journalistic research, and intends to tell this story through different perspectives. It will show the victims of the crimes, tell their stories and make their voices heard. It will profile the perpetrators, uncovering their personal characteristics and motivations, how they lose their humanity and justify their actions. It will explain how the investigators, both state and independent actors, work to find the criminals and bring them to justice. And it will reveal what happens next, both in Ukraine, where some of the criminals are prosecuted, and in Russia, where they are greeted as heroes.  

The International Criminal Court is already investigating numerous war crimes’ allegations. There will be many more such cases. One book cannot tell all the stories, but it can show the systemic nature of Russian criminal violence, analyze its (im)moral underpinnings, and give us hope that the crimes won’t be left unpunished.

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