Total war: How Ukraine mobilised a country as Russia overreached

The war in Ukraine has highlighted two things to Russia and the outside world: that Russia's much-vaunted military revolution has been exaggerated and that Ukraine's resistance to the invasion is total. Russia's military capabilities have been built up in Western eyes, particularly after its modernisation programme in the wake of the 2008 Georgian conflict. New equipment was ordered and training focused on realism as Russia's armed forces were put on a more professional footing. A new doctrine, designed to give the military greater flexibility in responding to a variety of scenarios, was also developed. Russia's new "hybrid" military tactics were highlighted by the relatively bloodless takeover of the Crimean peninsula in 2014, when "grey" operations – those below the threshold of actual conflict – were seen.