The Kremlin, it appears, had a plan from the start.
Weeks before the bloodiest days in Kyiv, weeks before Viktor Yanukovych fell from power and fled to Russia, weeks before the Euromaidan revolution reached its climax, the Kremlin had a blueprint for war.
And a blueprint for annexing not just Crimea but large swaths of eastern Ukraine, as well.
Some of the plan was realized; some of it not. But what does it tell us about the Kremlin's thinking and where the conflict may go from here?
On this week's Power Vertical Podcast, we discuss the Kremlin strategy document on Ukraine published by the oppositon newspaper Novaya Gazeta this week.
Joining me are co-host Mark Galeotti, a professor at New York University, an expert on Russia's security services, and author of the blog In Moscow's Shadows; and Anton Shekhovtsov, a researcher at University College London who has done extensive studies of Russian and Ukrainian nationalism.
Enjoy...
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