Serhii Plokhii: The idea of a “traditionally Russian” Crimea has existed in the world since the Cold War, and this mythology continues to live on.

Serhii Plokhii is a professor at Harvard, where he serves as director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. He is one of the leading experts on the history of Eastern Europe. He has lived in Ukraine for 35 years, Canada for 15, and the United States for 16.

Empires produce very powerful cultures, narratives and mythology. They last for a long period of time and have the resources to spread them around the world. The notion that Crimea is “traditionally Russian land” has actually existed in the world, including in the United States, since the mid-19th century, i.e. since the Crimean War, and this mythology continues to be very active. There is no realization that the Soviet Union and today’s Russia are a continuation of the Russian Empire. Most of the world and political elites know about the Soviet Union and partly about Ukraine through the experience of the Cold War, where the rival of the West and the United States was not Russia, as they said, but the Russian/Soviet Empire. And empires seize territories. Crimea is an imperial possession of Russia that it refuses to give up. That is, this is a narrative that is much more in line with the reality of what Crimea is, who the Crimean Tatars are, what the role of history is in relations with Crimea, and the history of Crimea as part of Ukraine. Unfortunately, we are only at the beginning of bringing these realities of the actual imperial Russian history to the world and changing the perception of Russia.

Source: Look, that is the artist! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtF7AzcyxjQ