Somebody explain why Russians believe Ukraine is part or Russia....

[jobhunter7]

I know it used to be part of the Russian Empire. But do they believe the same about Poland or Finland which were too? And what other former parts of the USSR do they believe to be still basically Russia.

Good question.

Don’t think there’s a credible answer.

In my head I've kind of considered it the same kind of thing as the Falklands.

I think you're making the mistake of lumping all Russians in with Putin. The number of Russians risking their lives to protest against this war shows that they most certainly do not all agree with him.

Not all that different from the occasional posters on here suggesting Ireland should go back into a political/customs union with the UK. Colonial mindsets.

Russian people are not Putin. Putin is a psychopath.

I pity the majority of the people of Russia who do not agree with him.

Crimia was always Russian. It was historically not part of Ukraine, but Khrushchev gifted crimea to Ukraine in 1954 thinking this would just be a formality (given that it was all USSR) but when Ukraine became independent, Crimea went with it.

Poland and Finland were not part of the USSR! (The Russian Empire, pre 1917, did include them)
It's the USSR that Putin is trying to restore. Hence Crimea and Chechenya.

Crimea

I read this that explained the background. www.chathamhouse.org/2021/11/ukraine-russia-relations

Crimea is not Ukraine?

It's nothing like the Falklands

I read on these boards that quite a lot of Russians believe this... not just Putin... and thus perhaps he has tried to use this to his advantage...

Oh Lordy.

But the Crimea is only a small part of Ukraine!

@MrsSkylerWhite

Crimea is not Ukraine?

It is Ukraine.

Borders in countries change all the time but the population of that part of the country needs to agree to the change, and then it has to be recognised internationally.

I think Ukraine is just the start of it, if he gets control of Ukraine he’s going to set his sights on other former USSR countries

It goes deeper than the USSR. The Kyivan Rus was a powerhold for centuries, and sits at the foundation of both the Russian and Ukrainian history (and Belarus's too). If you study Russian history this is a starting point for many.

Over the centuries Ukraine was controlled by different powers (the golden horde, Poland etc) and then in the 17th and 18th centuries was gained by Russia in parts until it was fully controlled by Russia just up until near the end of WW1 and then the USSR was formed...taking us up to 1991.

I think most Russians recognise Ukraine as its own sovereign country but would continue to think of Ukrainians as their brothers and sisters in a cultural sense. Similar to how the Scots and Irish might consider each other.

But then Putin is a megalomaniac dictator who seems to want a return to the USSR days. So he manipulates that shared history to position himself as the peacekeeper of Ukraine to his followers.

@XelaM can you explain why the history of Crimea is relevant? Putin has not invaded Crimea he has invaded the whole of Ukraine.

@GrumpyPanda

Not all that different from the occasional posters on here suggesting Ireland should go back into a political/customs union with the UK. Colonial mindsets.

You're not wrong!

I think most Russians recognise Ukraine as its own sovereign country but would continue to think of Ukrainians as their brothers and sisters in a cultural sense. Similar to how the Scots and Irish might consider each other.

That’s interesting, no idea if it’s right. I knew a Ukrainian who for years used to say he was Russian.

Russian & Ukrainian language/culture have roots in same broad ethnic group back in 1300s. A lot has happened since then...

Russians see Ukrainians as 'brothers' because of shared roots. Ordinary Russians will feel very sick about killing Ukrainians.
Putin is selling this campaign as 'rescuing our brothers'

The modern languages are quite different, I gather, like Italian & Portuguese both have Latin roots and can recognise a lot in each other's languages, but quite different, really.

Read Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall. Does a great job of explaining how vital having the access to the Black Sea via Crimea is to Russia.

WTF! Poland and Finland were not in the USSR! Wow OP. Where did you go to school?

Maybe it makes more sense if you don’t believe that government should be by consent?

The Welsh and the Scots might ask the same of English people - if they voted for independence, there would always be some people in all 4 British countries insisting that we should take them back. Many people in the ex-Soviet states are ethnically Russian but their parents/grandparents were forced to move to those countries, then stayed when the USSR broke up. There are so many interwoven connections with ancestry, culture etc between Russia and Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia etc.