For more than 20 years, Lucian Kim covered Russia and Ukraine as a journalist. Now, the former NPR reporter is out with a new book that aims to explain the confluence of personal and geopolitical motivations that led to Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Putin’s Revenge identifies key moments in the decades leading up to the invasion, including the 2004 Orange Revolution, George W. Bush’s support of NATO membership for Ukraine, and Russia’s 2014 seizure of Crimea. In today’s episode, Kim talks with Here & Now’s Robin Young about several turning points in the conflict, the evolution of Putin’s position towards the West and Ukraine, and why Kim was initially drawn to cover Russia as a story of a collapsed empire.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR’s book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
