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Our Enemies Will Vanish

Our Enemies Will Vanish

Summary

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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 in a modern-day battle of David and Goliath. Putin had intended to conquer Ukraine with a vicious blitzkrieg, in a few short weeks. 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 their epic bravery in the face of almost unthinkable aggression.

For Trofimov, this war is deeply personal. He grew up in Kyiv and his family has lived there for generations. He tells the story of how everyday Ukrainian citizens—doctors, computer programmers, businesspeople, and schoolteachers—risked their lives and lost loved ones. At once heart-breaking and inspiring, and \combining vivid reportage with expert military analysis and rare insight into the thinking of Ukrainian leadership, Our Enemies Will Vanish tells the riveting story Ukraine’s fight for survival and refusal to surrender as it has never been told before.

©2024 Yaroslav Trofimov (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Reviews

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

About the author

Yaroslav Trofimov

Yaroslav Trofimov is the chief foreign-affairs correspondent of The Wall Street Journal and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in international reporting for two consecutive years, in 2022 and 2023. Before covering the Russian war on Ukraine, he reported on most major conflicts of the past two decades, serving as the Journal's bureau chief in Afghanistan and Pakistan and as a correspondent in Iraq. He holds an MA from New York University and is the author of two critically acclaimed books, Faith at War and The Siege of Mecca.
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