“Officer's Gambit” is the second novel in the “Eastern Strategy” dilogy, which began with the novel “Born from the Airborne Forces.” This is the first work of art by Valentin Badrak, dedicated to the cadets of the Ryazan Airborne Forces. Old friends, graduates of the Ryazan Airborne School, are again on the warpath. GRU Colonel Alexey Artemenko is included in the Russian residencies in Ukraine. He, together with numerous colleagues from the Russian special services, is actively fighting to change the foreign policy course of Ukraine and change the appearance of the state. He personally participates in a number of operations against Ukraine, but over time begins to doubt the correctness of his choice. Colonel of the Airborne Forces Igor Didus goes through two Chechen wars and participates in the conflict between Russia and Georgia. Contradictory pictures of human destinies unfold before his eyes. A merciless meat grinder is grinding the lives of ordinary Russians in the global project of recreating a new empire. Each of the two friends, in their own way, comes to the conclusion that the conflict between the elites of Ukraine and Russia has been artificially transferred to the people, and ordinary Ukrainians and Russians are paying for the actions of government officials.