How did we end up on February 24, 2022? How was this even possible? The Russian historical narrative is built on myths: the unity of Ukrainian and Russian peoples, certain primordial Russian territories, the traitor Mazepa, fearsome Banderites, and the grandeur of a magnificent, invincible empire. These myths were formed and maintained by Russian historians, poets, writers, and rulers. Vladimir Putin believed in these myths and became obsessed with them. It is high time to debunk these myths.

In his book, Mikhail Zygar recounts the development of Ukraine-Russia relations over the past 350 years. However, he does not do this through the history of states, parties, or organizations, but through the stories of individuals: Hetmans Bohdan Khmelnytsky and Kyrylo Rozumovsky, poets Taras Shevchenko and Vasyl Stus, political figures Mykhailo Hrushevskyi and Stepan Bandera.

The main protagonist of the book is Volodymyr Zelensky, a former comedian who is now the world's most popular politician and a symbol of Ukrainian resistance to Russian aggression. The lives of the book's heroes are stories of love, passion, courage, resistance to despotism, and the struggle for national identity and freedom.

For this book, Mikhail Zygar studied hundreds of historical sources and conducted interviews with key Ukrainian and Russian businessmen and politicians.