In this essay for The Atlantic, Elliot Ackerman reviews Yaroslav Trofimov’s Our Enemies Will Vanish, a ground-level account of the first year of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ackerman examines how Trofimov captures the war through the voices of Ukrainians who experienced the invasion directly, from Bucha and Bakhmut to Kyiv and the Donbas.
Ukraine, Russia, and the First Draft of War
The essay considers how stories shape the meaning of war, arguing that the struggle over Ukraine is also a struggle over history, language, memory, and national identity.
Mission Command and Democratic Resilience
Ackerman highlights Ukraine’s use of decentralized military leadership, contrasting it with Russia’s centralized command culture and showing how initiative, trust, and democratic resilience helped Ukraine survive the invasion’s opening phase.
The War for History
At its center, the piece argues that Ukraine’s resistance depends not only on weapons and foreign aid, but also on the ability of its people to preserve the story of their country against Russian attempts at erasure.