Serhii Plokhy on Russia, Ukraine, and the History of Their Relationship

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Transcript: Russia, Ukraine, and the History of Their Relationship |

Note: Full verbatim transcript not available — WebFetch returned curated chapter summaries. Content below reflects section headings and key themes as returned.

Key Topics Covered

**Soviet Collapse** Plokhy distinguishes between three related but distinct events: ideological collapse, the Cold War's end, and Soviet Union dissolution. He emphasises Ukraine's critical role — its December 1991 independence referendum, in which over 90% of voters backed independence, effectively ended the Soviet project. Without Ukraine, the USSR could not continue as a viable state. **Historical Foundations** The discussion traces East Slavic origins to the 8th-9th centuries, the emergence of Kievan Rus, and Moscow's rise during the Mongol rule period. Plokhy explains how competing claims to this shared heritage — both Russia and Ukraine claim descent from Kievan Rus — fuel modern conflicts. The Mongol invasion of the 13th century fragmented Rus, driving the western portions into the Lithuanian and Polish spheres while the eastern portions consolidated around Moscow under Tatar overlordship. **Nationalism and Bandera** The controversial figure Stepan Bandera represents Ukrainian nationalist aspirations during the Soviet and Nazi periods. Plokhy contextualises his collaboration with Nazi Germany in 1941 while noting he spent most of his life in prison or exile — first Soviet, then German, then post-war Western Europe before being assassinated by the KGB in 1959. Plokhy emphasises the distinction between the historical Bandera (imprisoned for most of his active years, executed by the KGB) and the mythologised symbol deployed in contemporary politics. **KGB's Role** The security apparatus wielded enormous power, particularly under Yuri Andropov's tenure in the 1970s-80s. Plokhy connects KGB institutional culture — the surveillance state, the primacy of power over law, the framing of political dissent as foreign sabotage — to Putin's worldview and operational approach. Putin served in the KGB and internalised this institutional framework. **Path to the 2022 War** Key moments: the 2004 Orange Revolution (first mass Ukrainian democratic protest); the 2013-14 Euromaidan protests (triggered by Yanukovych's rejection of EU association agreement); the 2014 Crimea annexation and Donbas separatist conflict (beginning of hot war); and the full-scale February 2022 invasion. Plokhy traces a logic of escalation rooted in Putin's framing of Ukraine as an artificial state and Russians and Ukrainians as "one people." **Cultural Differences** Despite linguistic and cultural proximity — both Russian and Ukrainian belong to the East Slavic family — Ukraine and Russia developed distinct political traditions. Ukraine's political culture was shaped by resistance to central authority (Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, then Russian Empire); Russia's by state-centred identity where legitimacy flows from the state downward. These structural differences make the "one people" thesis historically untenable.

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