Vladimir Putin's twisted perception of Ukraine
Perceptions of the Russo-Ukrainian war raging on as we speak vary widely across the world. Some think of it as Russian aggression, some as an attempt by Russia to defend its interests or even its cultural assets and citizens, de-jure or de-facto, residing in Ukraine. But few people seem to be aware of the fact that there is a wide-spread view in Russia that Ukraine as a nation, and Ukrainians as an ethnic group and cultural identity, do not truly exist and that Russian attempt to take over Ukraine is legitimized by the fact that Ukrainians and Russians are the same people who need to be unified. That view is shared, seemingly, by none other than Vladimir Putin, the Russian dictator himself.
In July 2021, a full half-year before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine started on 24 February 2022, he had published an article on the official Kremlin resource titled On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians. In it he states, among other things:
I am confident that true sovereignty of Ukraine is possible only in partnership with Russia. Our spiritual, human and civilizational ties formed for centuries and have their origins in the same sources, they have been hardened by common trials, achievements and victories. Our kinship has been transmitted from generation to generation. It is in the hearts and the memory of people living in modern Russia and Ukraine, in the blood ties that unite millions of our families. Together we have always been and will be many times stronger and more successful. For we are one people.
Now we will for the moment disregard the fact that these words were penned by the same person who sanctioned the indiscriminate bombing of Mariupol, a city whose pre-war population overwhelmingly spoke Russian as a first language, less than a year later. The thesis seems odd at least. For example, why should Ukraine partner with Russia as opposed to, say, Poland or Solvakia or Bulgaria? Ethnic ties between Ukrainians and these nations is no weaker than that between Russians and Ukrainians.
The article - published in English, one must note, and hence clearly intended for international consumption - seems to be full of such incongruencies. I suggest you read it in full. Personally, I think it clearly promotes the idea that Ukraine does not exist as a separate, independent nation, never has and hence has no right to claim such a status.
As always - do your own research, use your own brain, draw your own conclusions.
References
Article by Vladimir Putin ”On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians“
Office of The President of Russia, 12 July 2021 (3 February 2023 archive)
Phantom victory of the "Russian world" - memory holed, but not forgotten
@borepstein , 8 January 2023
On the occasion of the upcoming anniversary
@borepstein , 23 February 2023
Mariupol. The Chronicles of Hell
@borepstein , 4 May 2022
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