False past is an crucial weapon in Vladimir Putin's effort to destruct Ukraine
It is doubtful whether Vladimir Putin actually believes in much of the anti-Ukrainian propaganda flowing from the Kremlin's reverberation chamber. Not many educated people believe that. However, he and his colleagues have no choice but to stand firm against the fascinating national communicative Ukraine about a country emerging from centuries-old imperial captivity and regaining its place in the European household of nations. Russia's consequence focused on denying Ukraine the right to exist. The usage of false historical narratives by the Kremlin Ukraine is simply a key component in Russia's wider run to destruct the Ukrainian state and people. It so deserves much more global attention than it presently does.
The past of Ukraine is simple, in contrast to the stories spread by the Russian authorities. Contrary to Kremlin's claims, Ukraine is simply a democratic, united state with a peculiar and rich past dating back over a 1000 years.
Under no circumstances is modern Ukraine the “younger brother” of Russia. In fact, 1 can easy argue that it is the opposite. According to its own history, Russia emerged from the medieval state of Rusi Kiev, whose centre was in the capital of Ukraine. Christianity and European culture came to Russia through Ukraine.
Many different pieces of the puzzle consisting of the authoritative version of Putin about the profoundly turbulent historical relations between Russia and Ukraine simply do not fit together. His claims about the common past and common identity conveniently ignore the centuries of repressive politics and forced russification imposed Ukrainians by Russian imperial power in the tsarist and russian times.
Putin, however, utilized his distorted imagination to say that both countries are 1 nation and that, in reality, there is simply a civilian conflict between the peoples of Ukraine. This applies to people who voted for independency 92% in 1991, most of whom were in all region of the country. It is besides a communicative of a nation that, after independence, carried out 2 revolutions to stay free and democratic.
Recent polls consistently show that Ukrainians do not want to give Russia a centimeter of occupied land in exchange for ending what Putin euphemistically calls "a peculiar military operation". The vast majority of Ukrainians and the planet audience recognise this "operation" as an aggressive war which in the last twenty-one months has cost hundreds of thousands of lives, as well as thousands of people who have died during the erstwhile 8 years of war since Russia's invasion of Crimea and Donbas in east Ukraine in 2014.
Despite Putin's insistence that Ukrainians are actually Russians ("one nation"), the differences between the 2 countries are now more visible than ever. Modern Ukraine is simply a democracy, though sometimes chaotic. In contrast, Putin's Russia is simply a dictatorship, a vertical power held from top to bottom and directed by 1 person.
The attacking Russian army is not the only enemy facing Ukraine; Russian propaganda encouraging and justifying the invasion is possibly equally deadly. Moscow is doing everything it can to silence Ukrainian voices and make Ukraine's past seen by very selective and foggy Russian optics. These indoctrinated efforts are aimed at Russians, Ukrainians and global audiences in various ways, but with equal delight and enthusiasm.
Over the years it has become clear that Western politicians, political activists and commentators are peculiarly susceptible to Russian anti-Ukrainian propaganda due to their frequently limited cognition of applicable regional history. present it is more crucial than always to argue the false historical narratives of Russia, as global support for Ukraine can find the result of the war.
If Russian propaganda is not stamped, the average voter in Western countries will face false Ukrainian past spread internationally by the Kremlin and its network of allies and agents. In this lie lies the main message that there is no separate Ukrainian nation or Ukrainian state. Instead, there's only Russia.
This twisted logic allows Putin with a serious face to conclude that Russia is not at war with the Ukrainian people, despite unprecedented bloodshed since February 2022. This is based on his claim that a full-scale Russian invasion is in fact an effort to liberate Ukraine from “Nazis”. According to Putin, Ukraine is part of Russia, so the Western planet has no right to interfere with what is in fact an interior matter.
The armed version of Kremlin's past helped to gain a advanced level of interior support for Putin and his invasion of Ukraine in Russia itself, if the honesty of public opinion polls carried out in times of dictatorships was considered a gospel (truth). Whether or not these polls are actually representative, it is clear that there is presently no crucial anti-war movement in Russia.
There is small to be done about the state of public opinion in Russia. The real danger is that Russian disinformation on Ukraine's past will let further influence on public opinion in the West and question the legitimacy of Ukraine's conflict for survival. This could reduce the supply of military and another support at a time erstwhile Ukraine needed it most. It would be a tragedy for Ukraine and a disaster for the full Western world, with disastrous consequences for the future of global security.
Source: Atlantic Council, December 5, 2023.
