Occupation

Description

In September 2022, at a grandiose ceremony in the Kremlin, President Putin announced the incorporation into the Russian Federation of four provinces in southern and eastern Ukraine—the most significant attempted land seizure in Europe since World War II. Although Russia was not in control of large parts of these provinces, its military occupied more than 40,000 square miles, roughly the size of Denmark.

Occupation explains how Russia sought to subjugate these territories through a toxic mix of violence, political influence and economic coercion. Its security forces kidnapped, tortured and killed civilians and officials, seized businesses and properties from Ukrainian owners, erased physical evidence of Ukrainian culture, and subjected the population to a barrage of constant propaganda.

More than half of the pre-war population fled, to Europe, Russia or the rest of Ukraine, and most who remained were hostile to the occupiers. Yet Russia found local politicians to front its regime. A few people openly collaborated; most faced uncomfortable choices to survive under Russian rule.

In occupied Ukraine, Moscow attempted to create an ersatz ‘new Russia’, based on fantasy, ideology and violence. This regime was a microcosm of the contemporary Russian Federation, reflecting its deepening militarisation and authoritarianism.

Reviews

‘How does Russia hope to sustain the occupation of Ukrainian territories it has seized? This meticulous, pathbreaking study exposes Moscow’s grim efforts to enforce a brutally repressive but methodical system of occupation. Chilling but essential reading.’ — Roy Allison, Souede-Salameno Fellow Professor of Russian and Eurasian International Relations, and Director of the Russian and Eurasian Studies Centre, University of Oxford

‘With great clarity and conceptual sophistication, Occupation reveals the broad spectrum of tools Russia uses in subjugating populations after achieving territorial conquest in Ukraine. A must-read to understand the high costs of occupation for individuals, communities, and the political future of norms against conquest.’ — Anna Ohanyan, author of The Neighborhood Effect: The Imperial Roots of Regional Fracture in Eurasia

‘Drawing on his in-depth knowledge of Ukraine and Russia, Lewis details all aspects of the Russian occupation, from violence to the economy to government. This brilliant book should be compulsory reading for anyone who talks easily about Ukraine’s ceding of land to Russia as a solution to end the war.’ — Sabine Fischer, Senior Fellow, Eastern Europe and Eurasia Research Division, SWP

‘A significant, original analysis of the Russian occupation machine, digging into its complexities and inconsistencies, as well as the difficult choices faced by local elites and ordinary people.’ — Oleksiy Bondarenko, Lecturer in Public Economic Management, International Development Department, University of Birmingham

Author(s)

David Lewis is Professor of Global Politics at the University of Exeter, specialising in Russia, Central Asia and the Caucasus. His most recent book is Russia’s New Authoritarianism: Putin and the Politics of Order. In 2019–22, he was seconded to the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.