Medinsky Launches a New Ideological Offensive Against Ukrainian History
Medinsky Opens a New Historical Front Against Ukraine
Vladimir Medinsky, currently the Kremlin’s chief historical propagandist, calls for “honesty before history.” But his own statements demonstrate a textbook example of how an empire rewrites the past to serve its political needs.
The “One People” Myth
Medinsky’s claim: “Russians and Ukrainians are one people”
Historical facts:
Ukrainian formed as a distinct East Slavic language no later than the 14th century. The first mentions of Ukrainians as a separate people date back to the 12th-13th centuries. The Kyivan state existed 300 years before the emergence of the Muscovite principality. Ukraine had its own state formations: the Galicia-Volhynia principality, the Zaporizhzhian Sich, and the Hetmanate. Ethnographic studies of the 19th-20th centuries clearly distinguish Ukrainian and Russian ethnic groups.
Most importantly, if Ukrainians and Russians were “one people,” why would the Russian Empire and USSR spend centuries trying to destroy Ukrainian language and culture?
The Lie About “Preserving Identity”
Medinsky’s claim: “The Russian Empire created conditions for annexed peoples to preserve their identity, culture, language, and religion.”
Historical facts:
1720 — Peter I banned the printing of Ukrainian books
1763 — Catherine II closed the last Ukrainian schools
1769 — Ukrainian-language religious services were banned
1876 — The Ems Ukaz prohibited Ukrainian language in education, theater, and printing
1881 — Import of Ukrainian books from abroad was banned
1884 — Ukrainian theatrical performances were prohibited
Is this called “preserving culture”? Or perhaps systematic cultural extermination? A typical ethnocide?
Genocide as “Care”
Medinsky’s claim: “Our army is now doing more for Ukrainian schoolchildren than anyone else”
Reality of war:
Over 3,600 educational institutions in Ukraine have been destroyed or damaged by Russian missiles. More than 500 Ukrainian children have been killed. Over 1,100 children have been wounded. Thousands of children have been deported to Russia (an international crime). Schoolchildren are forced to study in bomb shelters.
Medinsky calls this “care”? The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin precisely for the deportation of Ukrainian children.
Colonial Amnesia
Medinsky’s claim: Other states are founded on the principle that “we always existed, and Russia made us its colony,” as if no state among those colonized by Russia existed before Moscow’s appearance.
Historical reality:
Ukraine existed long before the formation of Muscovy. The Pereiaslav Council of 1654 was a military alliance that Moscow never ratified, not a “reunification.” Muscovy violated the terms of the Pereiaslav Agreement as early as 1663. Baturyn (1708) was the first destruction of a Ukrainian capital by Muscovite forces. The Battle of Poltava (1709) was Moscow’s victory over the Ukrainian-Swedish alliance. The destruction of the Zaporizhzhian Sich (1775) eliminated Ukrainian autonomy. The destruction of the Ukrainian People’s Republic (1921) eliminated Ukrainian independence.
Neo-Colonial Rhetoric Today
Perhaps the final chord in Medinsky’s imperial rhetoric, as he calls for “honesty before history,” is that when speaking about Ukraine, he uses the term “Little Russia” — a colonial name that the Russian Empire imposed on Ukraine to diminish its status. It’s precisely about the history of “Little Russia” that he tries to convince the world, as if Ukraine never existed.
In doing so, he vividly demonstrates a classic example of colonial rewriting of the past. His statements are not history, but propaganda aimed at justifying war against Ukraine.
True honesty before history means recognizing that:
Ukraine is a separate people with a thousand-year history
The Russian Empire and USSR conducted policies of cultural genocide
The current war is a continuation of imperial colonial policy, confirmed by Russia’s unilateral legalization of all occupied Ukrainian territories as part of itself
When the culture minister of an aggressor says his army is “doing good” for Ukrainian children by bombing their schools — this is not history, this is a crime against humanity.