BERKELEY/KYIV ¨C When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, few expected resistance to last longer than a few days.
In both Russia and the West, Russian troops were expected to sweep into Kyiv,, install a proxy government and effectively end Ukrainian statehood.
But whereas Western leaders believed that Ukraine was no match for Russia militarily, Russian President Vladimir Putin¡¯s confidence in a swift victory rested on a more fundamental assumption: Ukrainians would have little will to resist because they had never actually existed. In Putin¡¯s eyes, Ukraine¡¯s history and identity were so that its people would have no reason to risk their lives and property for the sake of sovereignty.
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