“Nuanced,melancholy,sophisticatedandgratifyinglyintimate.“-YanisVaroufakis,authorofTechnofeudalismUkrainianpolitics,theRussianinvasionandtheescalatingcrisisofthepost-SovietworldTowardstheAbysspresentssearchinganalysisofadecadeofwarandupheavalinUkraine.VolodymyrIshchenkohasbeenamongtheleft’smostsignificantcommentatorsonUkrainesince2014,whenpro-EUprotestorstoppledthegovernmentinKiev,RussiaannexedCrimeaandpro-RussianseparatistsseizedpartsoftheDonbass.Oneofhisfirstthoughtswhenhereadthenewsofthefull-scaleRussianinvasionon24February2022wasthatnomatterhowthewarends,hewillnolongerhaveahomeland.WhathashappenedinUkraineeversincetheSovietcollapseisadrawn-outprocessofde-modernization,andthedownwardspiralisgettingfaster.IshchenkoarguesthattheconflictbeingfoughtinUkrainewithtanks,artilleryandrocketsisthesameconflictsuppressedbypolicebatonsinBelarusandinRussiaitself.Theintensificationofthepost-Sovietcrisis-theincapacityofanoligarchicrulingclassintheterritoriesoftheformerUSSRtosustainpoliticalormoralleadership-istherootcauseoftheescalatingviolence.
