DISINFO: Ukrainian statehood is an inheritance from Soviet Ukraine

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

DISINFO: Ukrainian statehood is an inheritance from Soviet Ukraine

SUMMARY

Ukrainian statehood is an inheritance from Soviet Ukraine. Why was there Leninopad [Leninfall: the removal of Soviet monuments as part of the de-Communisation laws]? What remains of Ukrainian statehood besides the Soviet period? There is nothing at all. The Russians had a great empire, the Ukrainians had nothing.

RESPONSE

Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative designed to denigrate the history of Ukraine, Ukrainian statehood and its independence.

Ukraine is recognised in international law as a sovereign nation-state, with its own flag, nationality, language and with a democratically-elected president and parliament.

The history of Ukraine dates back to the era of the Kyivan Rus’ in the 9th-13th centuries. A national movement developed during the ages, while Ukraine was ruled by Russia; Ukrainian nationalists took part in the revolutionary movements that led to the demise of the Russian empire.

In the early 20th century, after the collapse of the Russian empire, the Ukrainian People’s Republic was proclaimed, simultaneously with other nations, like Georgia, Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. When the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia in late 1917, fierce attempts were made to re-establish Russian control over the newly independent states. Battling against nationalist movements, Moscow created "Soviet Republics" in order to mimic national independence: an Estonian Soviet Republic was, for instance, established in Narva in 1918. Soviet Russia managed to take control over Ukraine, establishing a Bolshevik regime. Moscow performed aggressive anti-Ukrainian policies, exterminating the population during four famines; battling the language and the Ukrainian culture.

As part of the de-Communisation laws, the toppling of Bolshevik monuments was not about "changing history" but instead changing the focus on what should be celebrated.

See the similar case 'The Ukrainian State was Created by the Bolshevik's, Now Ukrainians are Attempting to Change History.'

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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