Deciphering Russia's Mystifying and Ruthless Invasion of Ukraine

The first is the causes of the outbreak of the war. [...] The contributors and the issues addressed in their papers are as follows: Chapter 1, by Professor Kimitaka Matsuzato of the University of Tokyo's Graduate Schools for Law and Politics, clarifies the background of the crisis that led to the war in terms of historical factors, contemporary security problems on both sides, and the situation in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. [...] Here, Professor Matsuzato discusses a broad scope of the background and the factors behind the Russian invasion of Ukraine, from historical events to up-to-the-minute information at the local level, enabling the reader to gain an understanding of the situation that connects the historical with the present. [...] It was the violence of the Euromaidan uprising that triggered the separation of Crimea and the Donbas. [...] Conclusion Although there is little overlap in the topics discussed in this volume, as each contributor focuses on his or her area of expertise, one of the most important of the common themes is the cause of the outbreak of the war.