Why did Putin launch Operation Z in Ukraine? Are Ukrainian forces using neo-Nazi volunteers? What are the forces involved and the reality of the military conflict over the past six months? What do we know about war crimes like Butcha? Have Western economic sanctions worked? Is the massive arms shipment from the West having an effect on the conflict? After the best-selling book Putin: Master of the Game, whose analysis has been acclaimed worldwide, Jacques Baud returns in this book to the root causes of the war in Ukraine and the reasons that pushed Vladimir Putin to intervene on 24 February 2022. Using intelligence information and official reports, he analyses the course of the military actions and the way they were interpreted in the West. It explains the political and economic disruption of the world order and the long-term consequences of Western sanctions on our daily lives. It reveals how the conflict could have been avoided and what avenues were deliberately left open by the US and Europe