The current issue aims to encourage reflection on this war. The authors pose five questions on the main topic:

1. Andreas Umland is dedicated to "Historical esotericism as a method of cognition. How Russian pseudo-scientists have contributed to Moscow's anti-Western turn" the question after that, how it could come to thisthat Russia is invading a neighbouring country.
2. The second question, namely Explanations of the course of the war, go Markus Reisner and Christian Hahn in her contribution "Russia's battalion tactical groups in operational planning and tactical deployment in the war for Ukraine 2014 to 2023" to. Also International analyses are considered in relation to this question.
3. In the context of the question of the further course of the war deals with Joachim Krause with his contribution "Russia's new strategy in the Ukraine war - where is it leading?" The war will continue in the face of the Russian government's unconditional unwillingness to compromise. Further information can be found in the review section of the magazine presented studies and the compiled Background information.
4. The fourth question about the Prospects for ceasefire and peace is dedicated to Beatrice Heuser in her contribution "What peace solutions for the Russia-Ukraine war? Thoughts on strategies for peace-making".
5. Which Implications for German defence policy are to be derived, scrutinise Alexandr Burilkov and Christian E. Rieck with her contribution "Prepared for the turning point? The Bundeswehr's operational readiness reveals major deficits".

Furthermore Johannes Varwick ("Is the realist school of theory suitable for explaining the
Russian war against Ukraine?") and Maximilian Terhalle ("The theory of war? Classical realism, strategy and Russia's war of aggression") in the area of "Controversially discussed" the role of the political science theory of realism in explaining the causes of the war in Ukraine and how to deal with it.

The current issue of SIRIUS also closes with several Book reviews from.

As usual, the entire current issue is also available online under the Open Access licence via De Greyter Verlag HERE freely available.