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Manly writer says his book, Z Empire Unmasked is an investigation into the imperial ambitions driving Russia’s war against Ukraine and its broader destabilizing impact on the international order.
The book blends historical insight, strategic theory, and lived experience to decode the largest European war since WWII, and why its outcome will shape the future of global security.
Featuring a foreword by Vasyl Myroshnychenko, Ambassador of Ukraine to Australia and New Zealand, who calls the book “a timely and important antidote” to Kremlin propaganda and a vital guide to understanding what he terms the world’s first drone war.
Kutcher says the book grew out of a personal and analytical frustration with the growing disconnect between the realities of Russia’s war against Ukraine and how it was often framed outside the region.
“Not only through simplified narratives, but through intentionally misframing ones, including misrepresented motives and portrayals of the war as a distant or even ‘negotiable crisis’.
“Writing as a Ukrainian-New Zealander, and drawing on historical analysis and first‑hand exposure, I sought to explain the war by situating it within longer patterns of imperialism, wider Russian aggressions, and enduring ambitions that extend well beyond Ukraine. What I hope to achieve is not persuasion but clarity: to show why this war cannot be compartmentalised or bargained away without consequence, and why it sits “at the heart of a fracturing world” – where failures to confront aggression reshape international order, security, and responsibility far beyond Europe.”
A limited New Zealand printed edition is available at Ukrainian Bake stands held at Britomart Saturday market once a month or so. Details on Taste of Ukraine Facebook page. Also available on Amazon.
by Kyrylo Cyril Kutcher
Book giveaway
We have a copy of Z Empire Unmasked to give away. To go in the draw email hibiscusnews@localmatters.co.nz Alternatively, write your name, address and phone number on the back of an envelope and post or drop in to Z Empire Unmasked giveaway, Hibiscus Matters, 21 Florence Ave, Ōrewa. Entries close 5pm Thursday March 5.
