Russian President Vladimir Putin published an article on the Kremlin’s website on July 12, claiming that Russians and Ukrainians have always shared a single history.
The article begins with the statement “Ukrainians and Russians are one people, one whole.”
In reality, Putin’s claim is more propaganda than history. Russians and Ukrainians have historically been distinct.
Russia has for centuries promoted the myth that the Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians are one nation, with Moscow its heart. The theory has been used to entrench Russian imperialism and undermine the Ukrainian and Belarusian national identities.
Putin’s article, published in Ukrainian and Russian, puts his own spin on the history of Ukraine, from the times of the Kyivan Rus, the federation of Slavic states, to the contemporary Ukrainian government, which he called “radical” and “anti-Russian.” Putin claimed that this is unacceptable for the majority of Ukrainians.
In recent statements, Putin said that he has “admiration” for the Ukrainian people. On June 30, he reiterated his thesis of a “single nation” — a trinity of “Great Russians, Belarussians and Little Russians.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky replied that Ukrainians and Russians are not one people, but “if they were one, a yellow and blue (Ukrainian) flag would fly over the State Duma in Moscow.”
In May, Zelensky introduced a bill on the indigenous peoples of Ukraine, which consolidates the status of the Crimean Tatar people. It recognizes Crimean Tatars and Karaites as the indigenous peoples of Crimea. The Russians are not mentioned in the document. Putin called it a “forced assimilation.”
