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Articles on Soviet Union (USSR)

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Memorial tanks at the Ukrainian Motherland Monument in Kyiv. Madeleine Kelly/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

Who are the Ukrainians and when were they part of the same empire as Russia? A scholar answers basic questions on war in Ukraine.
The Volodymyr the Great monument, erected in 1853, in Kyiv. Volodymyr was a warlord who became the first Russian ruler to convert to Christianity in the late 900s. A similar statue was erected in Moscow in 2016 as a counter to Ukraine’s. (Shutterstock)

Vladimir Putin points to history to justify his Ukraine invasion, regardless of reality

As an independent country, Ukraine has suffered from corruption, poverty and violent periods, but Vladimir Putin’s view of Ukrainian history in Ukraine is deeply, perhaps deliberately flawed.
In this 1919 caricature, Ukrainians are surrounded by a Bolshevik (to the north, man with hat and red star), a Russian White Army soldier (to the east, with Russian eagle flag and a short whip), and to the west a Polish soldier, a Hungarian (in pink uniform) and two Romanian soldiers. Wikimedia Commons

Ukraine as a ‘borderland’: a brief history of Ukraine’s place between Europe and Russia

Borderlands are all about diversity and competing understandings of community and nation.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, left, shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 18, 2022. Sergei Guneyev/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images

3 reasons Belarus is helping Russia wage war against Ukraine

Belarus’ alliance with Russia is a strategic factor in the Ukraine war. The country’s long-term dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, has indicated he will do as Russian President Vladimir Putin says.
Soldiers with the 92nd Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces conduct drills in northeastern Ukraine on Jan. 31, 2022. Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

A new Cold War emerging as Russia launches full-scale invasion of Ukraine

The days of Soviet bloc countries in Eastern Europe disappeared at the end of the Cold War nearly 30 years ago. It appears Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to start a new Cold War..
Donetsk residents celebrate recognition of independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics by Russia on Feb. 21, 2022. Alexander RyuAlexander Ryumin\TASS via Getty Images

A historian corrects misunderstandings about Ukrainian and Russian history

History has many uses, and not all of them are noble. That’s very much the case as the public gets a crash course from politicians about Ukrainian history.
Smoke and flame rise near a military building after an apparent Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Why Vladimir Putin won’t back down in Ukraine

A western ‘do as I say, not as I do’ approach has helped provoke Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
A statue commemorating the Ukrainian famine, in which millions died. Ukrainian Presidency/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Famine, subjugation and nuclear fallout: How Soviet experience helped sow resentment among Ukrainians toward Russia

Ukraine was once known as the breadbasket of Europe, yet it suffered a devastating famine as a result of collectivist plans. That and other Soviet-era grievances have bred resentment toward Russia.
A live broadcast of Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking is shown on Dec. 23, 2021, from a media control room in Russia. Eric Romanenko/TASS via Getty Images

It’s just a ‘panic attack’ – Russian media blames US for escalating Ukraine crisis

America is being ‘hysterical’ about Russian troop buildups near the Ukrainian border. That’s the official news in Russia, where citizens are getting government’s preferred view of the Ukraine crisis.
A Ukrainian soldier uses a periscope to view the positions of Russian-led forces on Dec. 12, 2021, in Zolote, Ukraine. Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images

Ukraine got a signed commitment in 1994 to ensure its security – but can the US and allies stop Putin’s aggression now?

As Russia threatens to invade Ukraine, Ukrainians wonder about the worth of a 1994 agreement signed by Russia, the US and the UK, who promised to protect the newly independent state’s sovereignty.

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