How did we end up in 24 February 2022? The Russian historical narrative is built on myths: about the unity of the Ukrainian and Russian peoples, about some indigenous Russian territories, about the greatness of a beautiful invincible empire. These myths were formed and supported by Russian historians, poets, writers and rulers. Vladimir Putin believed in these myths and became obsessed with them. It is high time to debunk these myths. In his book Mikhail Zygar tells how relations between Ukraine and Russia have developed over 350 years. But he shows it not through the history of states, parties or organisations, but through the stories of people: Bohdan Khmelnitsky and Kirill Razumovsky, Taras Shevchenko and Vasil Stus, Mykhailo Hrushevsky and Stepan Bandera. But the main hero of the book is Volodymyr Zelensky, a former comedian and now the most popular politician in the world, a symbol of Ukrainian resistance to Russian aggression. For this book, Mikhail Zygar studied hundreds of historical sources and interviewed key Ukrainian and Russian businessmen and politicians.