From 2-13 March 2022 - only a week into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine - Russian forces tried and failed to take and hold Voznesensk, a small but strategically important town 80 kilometres northwest of Mykolaiv. We overlooked the fact that, for many centuries, ‘great Russian culture’ belittled other countries and peoples, suppressed and destroyed them,” says Zygar. Then again, it’s still very possible that the Ukrainians will make the kind of breakthrough that they have been pushing for. We always underestimate the Ukrainians, and it’s very difficult to assess and calibrate the role of courage and determination. Because while the Russians in some places are determined, in some places are well-trained, and in some places are adapting skilfully to changing situations, they are fundamentally a top-down conscript army that is suffering enormous losses of men and materials,” Harding said. A Small Town in Ukraine: Fascinating mapping of history and bloodshed around a geopolitical fault line ]

The cookie is set by CloudFlare service to store a unique ID to identify a returning users device which then is used for targeted advertising. The Ukrainians prevailed because of superior military tactics. And local knowledge. They blew up a bridge over the town’s Dead Water River, stymying the Russian advance. Kyiv’s 80th Brigade called in artillery strikes. One shell hit a Russian helicopter as it tried to evacuate wounded people. Eventually the Russians pulled out, abandoning many armoured vehicles, “supplies spilling out of them like the guts of gored animals”. We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed. For more details, please consult the latest information provided by Royal Mail's International Incident Bulletin.There is an encouraging note about the positive effect of the war on Ukrainians' civic identity. This story has an almost happy conclusion but it is by no means the end, as the author points out with a well-chosen quote from Chekhov.

Zygar remains optimistic that change is coming. He remains defiant, like the townspeople of Voznesensk. Defiant enough to write: “Russia as an empire has been consigned to the past, as a direct and irreversible consequence of the war.” A bold prediction from a brave writer. Beautiful blend It's March 2022 and Russian tanks are roaring across the vast, snow-dusted fields of Ukraine. Their destination: Voznesensk, a town with a small bridge that could change the course of the war. The author's own book recommendations are Invasion: Russia’s Bloody War and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival by Luke Harding (Guardian Faber Publishing, 2023) and Grey Bees by Andrey Kurkov (MacLehose Press, 2021) But a plan is emerging, and there’s a chance it could save not just Voznesensk, but the rest of southern Ukraine. When asked by Fabricius whether he believed that the Ukrainians would ultimately prevail and expel the Russians or whether they’re going to have to settle for a messy partition deal, Harding said that while there had been delays – particularly in western supplies – and progress had been limited, Ukrainians were still making progress and had made “significant headway” toward places like Tokmak, a Russian-occupied town in southern Ukraine.We are touched by the courage and dignity of Andrew Harding’s characters – qualities that the author must surely possess in equal measure’ – Andrey Kurkov