Whether under czarism, the Soviet Union or contemporary Russia, Moscow has never truly recognised Ukraine's right to sovereignty, treating its independence as a temporary mistake of history.
At the same time, Ukrainian political and intellectual elites have, at times, collaborated with Russia, contributing to its imperial power.
A striking example is Theophan Prokopovich, a former hegumen of the Kyiv Brotherhood Monastery and rector of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, who in 1716 became Czar Peter I's chief advisor on state and spiritual matters.
Conflict rooted in the 17th century
To understand the current conflict, one must look back to the 17th century.
In 1654, Cossack hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, after years of rebellion against discrimination in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, signed the Treaty of Pereyaslav, seeking military protection from the czar.
To Khmelnytsky, it was an alliance, not unconditional subjugation. But Moscow saw it differently—from the outset, it interpreted the treaty as Ukraine’s eternal subordination.
This event remains a cornerstone of Russian political mythology, which the Kremlin exploits to this day.
In Russian propaganda, Ukraine was never a separate nation but a “younger brother” that could not function without Moscow.
This deeply ingrained sense of superiority carries racist undertones. For centuries, Ukrainians were depicted as primitive peasants in need of Russian guidance.
The legacy of the Romanovs and the Soviets
Both czarist and Soviet rulers pursued relentless Russification. In the 19th century, czarism banned Ukrainian in schools and literature, forbade the term "Ukraine," and suppressed Ukrainian-language publishing.
Ukrainians were labeled “Little Russians,” and their language dismissed as a mere dialect.
This policy persisted, with brief periods of leniency, until the fall of the Russian Empire. Putin's modern ideologists still attempt to frame Ukraine as "Little Russia."
Despite repression, Ukrainian intellectual elites resisted Russification under both czarist and Soviet rule.
While the USSR briefly promoted “Ukrainization” in the 1920s, Stalin quickly reversed course. Ukrainian cultural leaders were purged in what became known as the “Executed Renaissance,” while the peasantry was subjected to extermination.
The 1932–1933 Holodomor famine, engineered by Stalin, killed around 4 million Ukrainians.
After World War II, Ukraine remained under Moscow’s strict control, despite Soviet propaganda portraying the USSR as a “brotherhood of nations.” Any expressions of Ukrainian independence were brutally crushed.
The collapse of the USSR and Ukraine’s independence
The Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991 gave Ukraine a chance at true independence.
Ukraine declared its independence on August 24, 1991, and Poland became the first country to recognize the newly independent state.
On December 1 that year, 90.32 percent of Ukrainians voted in favour of sovereignty in a national referendum.
However, Russia never abandoned its ambition to reclaim control over Ukraine. Throughout the 1990s, Moscow backed pro-Russian politicians and fuelled internal divisions.
Pro-Russian separatists attempted to separate Crimea from Ukraine as early as 1992 and 1994.
Meanwhile, Kyiv wavered between aligning with the West and maintaining ties with Moscow, resulting in rapid political shifts—from pro-Western reformers to Kremlin-backed puppets.
The 2004 Orange Revolution: Ukraine’s defiance
The Orange Revolution of 2004 was a turning point. Ukrainians rejected Moscow’s influence when Kyiv attempted to rig the presidential election in favour of Viktor Yanukovych, Russia’s preferred candidate.
The protests led to the election of a pro-Western leader, prompting an immediate Russian response—propaganda, economic blackmail, and further infiltration of Ukraine’s political elite. This ultimately allowed Yanukovych to take power in 2010.
Yanukovych: The Kremlin’s pawn
Under Yanukovych, Ukraine grew increasingly dependent on Russia. The country’s defence capabilities were deliberately weakened, and Russian agents infiltrated all aspects of state and society.
However, this attempt to reassert Kremlin control failed when, in late 2013, Yanukovych abruptly abandoned an EU association agreement, sparking mass protests known as Euromaidan.
The protests escalated after authorities used live ammunition against demonstrators, killing over 100 people. By February 2014, Yanukovych had fled to Russia.
2014: The 'small war' begins
Following Yanukovych’s ouster, Russia moved aggressively. It annexed Crimea in 2014 and ignited war in the Donbas.
This marked the moment when Moscow ceased pretending to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty. The same belief that had shaped Russian-Ukrainian relations since the 17th century—that Ukraine was an inseparable part of Russia—now drove the Kremlin’s military strategy.
Russian war propaganda framed Ukraine’s independence as a Western plot and claimed that "denazification was necessary—code for the destruction of Ukrainian national identity.
Ukrainians were depicted as “brothers deceived by the West” who needed “liberation.”
2022: The full-scale invasion
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, violating all norms of international law.
The ideological justification for this war remained the same as in centuries past: that Ukraine was not a real nation.
Russian propaganda resurrected narratives from the times of Khmelnytsky, insisting that Ukraine "always belonged to Russia" and that the West was "tearing it away."
Meanwhile, Ukrainians solidified their perception of Russia as a backward, imperialist aggressor.
Many saw themselves as the true heirs of Kyivan Rus, while viewing Russia as a failed attempt at expanding civilization into the remnants of the Mongol Empire.
Nationalism turned racism
Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine has revealed the worst aspects of its imperial mindset: the dehumanisation of Ukrainians, the destruction of cities, the execution of civilians and prisoners of war, mass deportations, and a propaganda machine that denies even its most obvious crimes.
Russian policy toward Ukraine is not just nationalist—it carries clear elements of racism.
Ukrainians are portrayed in Putin’s rhetoric as subhuman, labeled "genetic garbage" or “traitors of the Russian world.”
In the Kremlin’s eyes, Ukraine is not just a “rebel province” but an existential threat that must be crushed.
Epilogue: Will Ukraine prevail?
History teaches us that empires fall when they fail to adapt to reality. Russia, still trapped in a 19th-century mindset of conquest and domination, refuses to accept that Ukraine is an independent nation that will never return to Moscow’s control.
For the Kremlin, this is unacceptable. For Ukraine, it is the only path forward.
Regardless of how the war ends, one thing seems certain: Russia has lost Ukraine forever. And history will one day judge those who sought to destroy it.
Sławomir Sieradzki
The author is a senior analyst at public broadcaster Polish Radio.