Join us on Friday, 26 May for a conversation between Owen Matthews and Dr Natasha Kuhrt about Overreach: The Inside Story of Putin’s War Against Ukraine, shortlisted for the Pushkin House Book Prize 2023. Overreach tells the story of the first six months of the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, covering the historic origins of the conflict and its gradual descent into a full-scale war. Through meticulous research and a wide network of sources, the author reveals the intricate details of the personal relationships between the leadership of both states, reflects on obscure diplomatic developments, and narrates crucial steps of the military campaigns.
About the speakers
Dr Natasha Kuhrt is a Senior Lecturer in International Peace and Security in the Department of War Studies, Kings College London. She holds a B.A in Russian & German language & literature; MA in Soviet Studies, and a PhD on Russian policy towards China and Japan from UCL-SSEES. Her teaching includes MA and BA modules on international law and intervention, and new BA modules on Genocide and War, and Contending with Legacies of Atrocity Prevention. Dr Kuhrt regularly delivers lectures in the department on aspects of Russian national security and foreign policy, as well as Russia’s securitisation of history. She is the founder and co-convenor of the British International Studies Association Working Group on Russian & Eurasian Security. Dr Kuhrt has written a number of articles, reports and book chapters on global security and international law, as well as on Russia’s relations with China and Asia, and is currently working on two co-authored books, one for Polity Press on Russian foreign policy and another for Edinburgh University Press on Russia-China relations.
Award-winning correspondent, historian and fluent Russian-speaker Owen Matthews has lived and worked in Moscow for over 25 years. He has built up an unrivalled network of contacts who have worked in Putin’s administration, security services, armed forces and propaganda machine. He worked first as a staffer for The Moscow Times and then as Newsweek magazine’s Moscow Bureau Chief. He has covered conflicts in Bosnia, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Iraq, Georgia and Eastern Ukraine. He currently contributes regularly to Foreign Policy, The Spectator, Daily Mail, The Telegraph and The Critic.