Prior to invading Ukraine, Vladimir Putin claimed, as he has done many times before, that Ukraine is not a state and never had ‘real statehood’. According to Putin, Ukraine has always been a part of Russia’s own history and culture. He referred to the creation and acceptance of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic by Lenin in 1922 as a mistake and has also criticized the decision of Nikita Khrushchev to give Crimea to Ukraine in 1954 as a historic blunder.

Putin has used these historic claims to legitimize the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the Russian invasion 18 days ago. On top of that, he claims that Ukraine is run by a neo-Nazi government that is committing genocide against the Russian speaking population.

These are all ridiculous claims that were immediately debunked in the first weeks of the war. If Ukraine is not a country and run by an oppressive neo-Nazi government, why then is there so much heroic resistance by the Ukrainian people? Why aren’t the Russians welcomed as liberators? Why are (Russian speaking) Ukrainians fleeing westwards and not eastwards?

With his meddling in Ukrainian politics, annexation of Crimea, starting of a rebellion in Donbass and invasion of Ukraine, Putin has achieved the opposite of what he intended and strengthened the (existing) Ukrainian national identity. It is clear now that the Ukrainian people will never accept Russian influence and control over their country anymore and join the EU and NATO as quickly as possible, although this has become hard now.

A man who has (willingly) strengthened the Ukrainian national identity is Taras Shevchenko. When visiting Ukraine, it is very hard not to encounter something bearing his name. Shevchenko was a 19th century writer, poet, painter, and activist who is seen as the father of modern Ukrainian literature and key figure in the foundation of the modern Ukrainian language. On the picture you see a giant mural of Shevchenko in honour of his 200th birthday on a building in Kharkiv, which has been under constant shelling in the past weeks.

Слава Україні! 

Originally posted on Instagram on March 13, 2022