Russia's War Against Ukraine
OP-ED
Alexander J. Motyl: Putin’s ghost under the bed
Stepan Bandera
If you listened to Vladimir Putin's March 18 address, in which he made the case for Russia's annexation of Crimea, you may have been mystified by his damning references to "Bandera," a name few outside of Ukraine, Russia, or Eastern Europe are likely to know. Referring to the new government in Kiev, the Russian president claimed that "we can all clearly see the intentions of these ideological heirs of Bandera, Hitler's accomplice during World War II." Later, in reference to Crimea, he proclaimed, "What it will never be and do is follow in Bandera's footsteps!" The message was clear even to the uninitiated: Bandera is a bogeyman, a metonym for all bad Ukrainian things.
