History and Ukraine War — It is way more complex than what we think
Are There Deep Historical Roots to the War in Ukraine?
Yes, there is, as in everything that is happening in any society.
But Ukraine Russia seem to be a country where the complicated past is playing a very critical role in the conflict.
We are all quite aware of the recent past — that Ukraine became independent of the Soviet Union in 1991 (as separation was an integral part of the Soviet Union Constitution, it was just a bloodless declaration of the federal units who wanted to leave), Ukraine gave over all the nuclear arsenal to Soviet Russia in exchange of perpetual security guarantee, that Russia became increasingly imperialist about the countries that were previously part of Soviet Russia as Putin became stronger as the President.
Things came to a head when Russian soldiers without insignia occupied the Ukrainian territory of Crimea in 2014, and major secessionist activities broke out in Donbas in the same year. In 2013, a major protest broke out in Kyiv against then-President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to move away from a pact with the European Union and move closer to Russia.
Ukraine has been unique — it is a large country, and during the Soviet era it was one of the most industrially and scientific federal units. It also had one of the largest military bases beyond the US and USSR, a validation of its scientific and industrial prowess.
But Ukraine also has a complex history. So while there is obvious interest in the West in making it a part of EU and NATO, there are very strong emotions across Eastern Europe, and especially in Russia about where its future should lie.
Since the start of the Russia — Ukraine war, I have been confused about why two sets of people who are otherwise so close in many ways are in such a bloody confrontation.
Both countries follow Christianity, have Slavic culture (Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine is considered the cradle of the culture), and with significant Russian-speaking population in Ukraine (30% while the Russian population is 17%, the current President Zelensky is a native Russian speaker).
I got a glimpse of some of these issues in a recent session at Bangalore International Centre by three experts from the region — Kateryna Kovalchuk, Mikhail Dmitriev, and Agnes Kriza, moderated by Istvan Perczel. To be honest, I retained very less of what was discussed, as history is novel to me.
I am attaching an interesting note by Vladimir Putin talking about the shared lineage of the two countries, and arguments about why they should live in harmony like the USA and Canada, and not fall for the machinations of outside vested interests. This was published just before the full-scale invasion by Russia in 2022 (link below).
Some of the key takeaways from the discussions which were both new as well revealing to me are as below:
1. The arguments used by Russia to justify the invasion are about historical unity, whereas Ukraine is talking about the historical unique identity. Interestingly, the same historical events are presented by both sides differently to make their cases.
2. The Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarussioans are all descendants of Ancient Rus, which was once the largest state of Europe. This converted to Byzantine Orthodox Christianity in 988, which developed into Kyivan Rus between the tenth and twelfth centuries.
3. The entire region went through significant ravages of war, where various powers at various points in time occupied it and lost control. One interesting name is Batu Khan, a Mongol ruler and founder of the Golden Horde. He invaded and occupied Kyivan Rus in the thirteenth century. Just another instance of how powerful Mongols were once.
4. I thought that the people of both Ukraine and Russia were both Orthodox Christians. However, it was interesting to know that in the fifteenth century, the Church of the Eastern Slavs in Rus broke into two — the Moscow and Kyivan Metropolitanate, followed by the union of Churches of Rome and Constantinople. This happened in 1439, and there is a story of the religious divide.
5. Ukraine like all other countries that came out of the erstwhile Soviet Union is also a product of various ethnic and other distribution and redistribution methods that were undertaken for better integration. That explains why Ukraine has a significant percentage Russian population, and why a greater number than that are native Russian speakers. There are many other decisions about how various regions were added or removed from present Ukraine during the Bolshevik era. While they must have played a role in the integration, the lack of democratic processes underlying such decisions has also seeded discontent, which is now being exploited.
There are much more interesting takeaways, but I will restrain myself as I have limited understanding and there are chances for misinterpretations. But one thing that became clear to me — the more we find angst in the past and try to solve it in the present, the more we will be conflicts.
The choice is ours, do we leave history where it belongs and live peacefully with what we have for a better life, or go back and exploit the past?
A choice between fixing history and building history.
