Russia-Ukraine: Europe's Biggest War Since 1945
Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine came after thirty years of arguments over Ukrainian identity, nuclear weapons, and NATO, and after two revolutions in Kyiv. It became the largest war in Europe since 1945, and drones and peace talks now shape what comes next.
1991 to 2026 · 4 parts · 20 lessons · about 3.5 hours
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Questions this course answers
- Why did Ukraine give up the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal?
- Did NATO expansion cause the Russia-Ukraine war?
- How did Russia annex Crimea in 2014 with almost no fighting?
- How did Ukraine stop the Russian advance on Kyiv in 2022?
- Why did Ukraine's 2023 counter-offensive fail?
- How have drones changed the Russia-Ukraine war?
Four parts, 20 lessons
Part 1 · 1991 to 2014
The Long Road to 2022
How a thousand-year argument, a surrendered nuclear arsenal, two revolutions, and NATO's eastward expansion made the 2022 invasion thirty years in the making.
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1
7 min
Ukraine and Russia: One Nation or Two?
Putin opened his case for the 2022 invasion with history: Russians and Ukrainians are 'one people.' That claim is a thousand-year argument.
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2
9 min
Independence and the Nuclear Bargain
In 1994, Ukraine agreed to give up more nuclear warheads than Britain, France, and China combined, for security assurances in the Budapest Memorandum.
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3
8 min
The Orange Revolution (2004)
Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned and the 2004 runoff was rigged. Half a million Ukrainians protested on Maidan for 17 days and forced a rerun, which he won.
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4
11 min
NATO Expansion and Putin's Grievance
In 1990 James Baker told Mikhail Gorbachev NATO would not move 'one inch eastward.' NATO added ten countries by 2004. Whether that caused the war is debated.
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5
11 min
The Maidan Revolution (2013-14)
A Facebook post brought a thousand people to Maidan Square. Three months later, more than 100 protesters were dead and Viktor Yanukovych had fled.
Part 2 · 2014 to 2022
The First War
Russia seized Crimea in 2014 and backed a war in the Donbas that most of the world ignored for eight years, until the full-scale invasion of February 2022.
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6
10 min
Crimea: The Annexation
Soldiers in unmarked uniforms seized Crimea's parliament while Russia denied any role. After a referendum held under occupation, Russia annexed Crimea.
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7
11 min
The Donbas War Begins
Former FSB officer Igor Girkin entered eastern Ukraine with 52 armed men and started a war that has not stopped since. Russian air defenses later downed MH17.
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8
10 min
Minsk and the Frozen War
After the Minsk agreements, a 450-kilometer front line ran across eastern Ukraine for seven years. By 2022 the war had killed about 14,000 people.
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9
11 min
Putin's Essay and the 2021 Buildup
In 2021 Putin wrote that Ukraine had never been a separate nation. US and UK intelligence predicted the invasion, but Germany, France, and Ukraine doubted it.
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10
12 min
February 24, 2022: The Invasion
At 5:30 a.m. Moscow time on February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. The plan was to seize Kyiv and kill or replace Volodymyr Zelensky in three days.
Part 3 · 2022 to 2024
The Full-Scale War
From the failed Russian assault on Kyiv to the failed Ukrainian counter-offensive: Bucha, Bakhmut, the Wagner mutiny, and a six-month US aid freeze.
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11
9 min
The Defense of Kyiv
Ukrainian forces blew the Irpin bridge, ambushed a tank regiment at Brovary, and held Moshchun for ten nights. By April 2, Russia had pulled back from Kyiv.
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12
10 min
War Crimes and Resolve
After Russia withdrew, Ukrainian troops found about 458 murdered civilians in Bucha. In 2023 the ICC sought Putin's arrest over deported Ukrainian children.
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13
11 min
Ukraine Strikes Back
In 2022 Ukraine broke the Russian front near Kharkiv in six days and retook 12,000 square kilometers. Russia then retreated across the Dnipro from Kherson.
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14
12 min
Bakhmut and the Wagner Mutiny
Bakhmut, a salt-mining town neither side needed, cost roughly 60,000 Russian casualties. After taking the ruins, Prigozhin marched Wagner toward Moscow.
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15
11 min
The Failed 2023 Counter-offensive
Nine Western-trained Ukrainian brigades with Leopard tanks and HIMARS advanced about 15 kilometers in five months against the densest minefields since 1945.
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16
12 min
The Aid Freeze and Russia's 2024 Push
For six months the US Congress held up military aid. Ukraine fired 2,000 shells a day against Russia's 10,000 and lost Avdiivka, which it had held since 2014.
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17
12 min
Kursk: Ukraine Invades Russia
On August 6, 2024, Ukrainian forces crossed into Russia's Kursk Oblast. It was the first sustained foreign occupation of Russian soil since 1941.
Part 4 · 2025 to 2026
The Trump Era and the Search for an End
Trump's return, the drone revolution, European rearmament, and the 28-point plan: a year of negotiations with no peace and a war transformed by technology.
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18
14 min
Trump's Promise and the First Year
Trump promised to end the war in 24 hours. Instead came an Oval Office confrontation with Zelensky, suspended US aid, and a year of talks with no peace deal.
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19
16 min
The Drone War
Ukraine produced an estimated 4.5 million FPV drones in 2025, and Russia launched over 44,000 Shahed-type drones at Ukrainian cities in ten months.
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20
16 min
The 28-Point Plan and Europe Rearms
A leaked 2025 US plan asked Ukraine to cede the Donbas and never join NATO. Britain, France, and Germany drafted a counterproposal as Europe rearmed.
Lessons you can finish in one sitting.
Each lesson tells one part of the story and explains why it happened, with maps, images and quotes from the sources. A few questions at the end check that it stuck, and the key facts go into the course's flashcards.
- 7 to 16 minutes a lesson
- Three questions after each lesson
- 163 flashcards for this course
