2023

The war in Ukraine did not end in 2022.
It hardened.

The War of Attrition examines the brutal phase of the conflict that unfolded between the winter of 2022-2023 and the end of the Ukrainian counteroffensive in late 2023.

This was the period of:

• The grinding battle for Bakhmut

• The failed Russian assaults at Vuhledar

• The destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam

• The Wagner mutiny

• The Ukrainian counteroffensive against the Surovikin defensive lines

• The renewed bloodshed at Avdiivka

Rather than rapid maneuver, the war became one of trenches, mines, drones and artillery. Urban centers were reduced to rubble. Elite formations were depleted. Newly mobilized troops were thrown into prepared defenses. Both sides adapted, but neither achieved decisive breakthrough.

Drawing on open-source intelligence, battlefield analysis and doctrinal interpretation, this book explains:

• Why Bakhmut became the focal point of the war

• How Wagner's assault tactics reshaped Russian operations

• Why Vuhledar exposed structural weaknesses in the Russian military

• How Western tanks and training influenced Ukraine's counteroffensive

• Why the 2023 offensive stalled despite months of preparation

• What the battles of Avdiivka reveal about modern high-intensity warfare

This is not a political manifesto.
It is a military analysis of a war that has entered a phase of technological parity and industrial-scale attrition.

For readers interested in modern warfare, operational art, military doctrine and the evolving character of 21st-century conflict, this volume provides a clear and unflinching examination of one of the most consequential campaigns of our time.

If you liked Understanding the Russia-Ukraine War or How Russia and Ukraine Fight, this book continues the series with a detailed study of the most violent and decisive phase of 2023.