I'm not to say that I support Putin's maddeningly stupid (and already doomed) invasion in any way. Quite otherwise, as you might see from my recent writings here, being a Russian-speaking expatriate, I can't probably be more depressed with two-sided isolation of my homeland. I just feel too strong vibes of postapocalyptic fiction, not my favourite SF subgenre, in Biden's misheard lyrics of his speeches. ;)

I much prefer space opera and cyberpunk. Hence A Song Called Youth by John Shirley and David’s Sling by Marc Stiegler seem particularly relevant nowadays.

Ukrainians prefer analogues from fantasy, and regrettably trivial at that, identifying Putin with Tolkien’s Sauron and Russian invaders with Mordorian orcs. Alas, they’re not especially cognizant in modern fantasy works. Albeit such a comparison is spot on in one aspect: Sauron could have achieved his goals with a higher degree of probability by ditching the One Ring search problem altogether instead of struggle to find it again and don. He was bent by Tolkien’s will to seal his own morbid fate with it, just like Putin, increasingly separated from the outside world in the times of COVID-19 which he appears to have irrational fear of, has recently turned the Ukrainian crisis into a self-fulfilling prophecy about NATO vs Neosoviet Russia Cold War cosplay gone too far.