This is the sixth volume in Helion's histories on the war in Ukraine. This one covers the air war during February and March 2022. Of course, there is more to the book than the opening months as the authors cover the events in Ukraine from a time before the Russian invasion so that they can set the stage for the conflict.

Few remember or even know that after the dissolving of the Soviet Union, Ukraine had a government that was pro-Russian and actually quite corrupt. This is really not all that surprising as corruption and Soviet/Russian government tend to go hand in hand. The leadership basically carried on as things had been done before.

One of Ukraine's big mistakes was trusting Russia in the early years, a trust that had them get rid of their nuclear stockpile and all of its long range bombers. In some way this was inevitable as Ukraine was not able to afford to keep the systems functional, but it gave the Russians the opening they needed. The government offered no resistance when Russia took over Crimea in 2014, so they figured that it would be the same in 2022. What they did not realize is that there was a change in leadership, a leadership that put forth efforts to wipe out corruption and one that was fairly successful in containing the Russians in their proxy invasion of the Donbas.

The authors first look at the air fleets of both sides, including their capabilities and where they were stationed. This takes up the first half of the book. The second half concentrates on the various air engagements. This includes how tactics changed as the war progressed. It is divided into specific battles to give a good idea on how effective the various weapons were during this time. When one adds in the excellent choice of photos, maps and full color profiles, it makes for a very readable and interesting book. I'm sure that there will be follow-on books on this conflict and one can only hope that the outcome is in the favor of the people of Ukraine. It is a book that I can quite easily recommend to you.

March 2025

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