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https://theconversation.com/putins-invasion-of-ukraine-attacks-its-distinct-history-and-reveals-his-imperial-instincts-177669>
"Vladimir Putin has long insisted Ukraine is part of the country he rules. This
was painted more starkly than ever as he announced that Russian troops were
undertaking a “special military operation” in its western neighbour. But to the
rest of the world, what Russia is undertaking is simply an invasion.
Putin has been softening up the world for its latest foreign policy adventure
for some years now. “Kiev is the mother of Russian cities,” he wrote in March
2014. “Ancient Rus is our common source and we cannot live without each other.”
A few days later Russia completed the annexation of Crimea. Eight years later,
during which time more than 14,000 people have died in a Russian-instigated war
of insurgency in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, he has returned to this
theme – backed by the might of Russia’s armed forces.
The Russian president made this intention crystal clear in an hour-long and
fairly wide-ranging speech on February 21. “Ukraine is not just a neighbouring
country for us,” he told the Russian people in a national broadcast. “It is an
inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space.” He
repeatedly denied Ukraine’s right to independent existence – and, at times,
that the country exists at all as an independent entity. Instead he appeared to
accept the unity of the two countries as historical fact.
In doing so, he revealed the structures of an imperial ideology with a
chronology and ambition that goes far beyond post-Soviet nostalgia to the
mediaeval era. But to what extent is that ideology shared by Russians?"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
