Why did Putin launch Operation Z in Ukraine? Are Ukrainian forces using neo-Nazi volunteers? What are the forces involved and the reality of the military conflict for the past six months? What do we know about war crimes like Butcha? Have Western economic sanctions worked? Has the massive shipment of arms by the West had an effect on the conflict? After the best-seller Putin: Master of the Game, whose analysis has been praised worldwide, Jacques Baud returns in this book to the root causes of the war in Ukraine and the reasons that pushed Vladimir Putin to intervene on February 24, 2022. Using information from intelligence services and official reports, he analyzes the course of the military actions and the way they were interpreted in the West. He explains the political and economic upheaval of the world order, as well as the long-term consequences of Western sanctions on our daily lives. It reveals how the conflict could have been avoided and what avenues were deliberately left open by the United States and Europe. Colonel Jacques Baud is a former member of the Swiss Strategic Intelligence, a specialist in Eastern Europe and former head of Doctrine of the United Nations Peace Operations. Within NATO, he was involved in programs in Ukraine, including after the Maidan Revolution of 2014 and 2017. He is the author of several books on intelligence, war and terrorism, including Putin, Master of the Game? Governing by Fake News, and The Navalny Affair, all published by Max Milo. This audiobook is read by a synthesized voice.