This is John Batchelam, conversation with Harvard historian Serhi Ploki.

His book is very helpful to understand the conflict in Ukraine, the Russo-Ukrainian War, the return of history.

It is a very careful explanation of all that has gone between these two countries for centuries, for generations, for the

21st century. In this particular exchange, Professor Polki makes it very clear this is not a war

with Russia. This is a decision made by one man that there is no democracy then in February of 22 there's no democracy

now there was no democracy at the turn of the century when the assumption was with the Soviets

gone Russia capital estate would move towards democracy.

It is, according to the professor, a dictatorship.

And here he explains who is the dictator.

Nothing has changed since February of 22.

Ceri Plokie, professor at Harvard University, the book is the Russo-Ukrainian War,

The Return of History.

More of this later tonight.

What happened on the night of February 23rd, 2014, certainly demonstrates very clearly that Russia today, even Russia, back in 2014, nine years ago, was anything but a democracy.

And if you look closer at the story of that meeting, the story how it was retold a number of times by Vladimir Putin itself,

it's not just the decision made by the leader of the country and a small group of the

security officials.

It's really a decision made by one man.

And that was Vladimir Putin.

So people there were not to advise him on the decision.

People there were to advise him on how that decision that he had made had to be implemented.

So we are dealing really with dictatorship today.

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