More from Ukraine Explainers:
A Mini-Guide to Russian Imperialism
And Why Ukrainian Fight is an Anti-Colonial Resistance
[...]
Imperialism is usually associated with conquering and exploiting distant nations located oceans away from the empire.
But Russia's conquests were different. Russia always expanded its territory by invading neighbouring states. That way, they have gradually collected a lot: from Finland to the Caucasus, from Crimea to the islands bordering Japan.
In all these lands lived non-Russian (and non-Slavic in many cases) nationalities with their own languages, religion, culture, and history. And they were subjected to similar extermination and assimilation strategies as the colonies of Britain, France, or Spain.
But what about the USSR? It was Anti-Imperialist, right?
Not really. USSR's anti-imperialism was mostly directed against the West and its expansion. But when it came to Russian imperialism at home, it was never really recognized or challenged.
After the fall of the Russian Empire, many former colonies declared independence and proclaimed sovereign socialist republics. This was never an option for Moscow. In 1817-1921, the Soviet army violently oppressed most of these states. Finland, Poland, and the Baltic states managed to keep their independence, but most colonies were conquered back.
Ukraine fought for independence between 1917 and 1921 but fell eventually.[...]
Life under the Soviet regime was far from peaceful.
In the 1920s, Ukraine enjoyed a revival of modern art and literature. But 90% of these cultural leaders were sent to the Gulag or executed in the 1930s, becoming known as the Executed Renaissance.
In 1932-1933, the state-managed Holodomor famine hit the Ukrainian rural population. Around 4 million people died from starvation just to fulfill the mad ambitions of Moscow. Soviets kept these events secret until late 1980s.
In 1944, after taking back Crimea from Nazi Germany, USSR deported all Crimean Tatar population (200,00 people) to Central Asia, killing thousands in process. [...]
Since 1991, Russian has instigated numerous military assaults on its former colonies: Moldova in 1992, Georgia in 2008, and Ukraine in 2014. [...]
Why Russian Imperialism is so dangerous
Western imperialism is recognized, studied, and constantly challenged around the globe. Russia, on the contrary, never faced its imperialism internally or externally.
As a result, Russians don't just feel no shame about the history of Russian atrocities. They are proud of them, and they want more. That's why Russia has gone completely fascist in the last 20 years. Putin's rule is based on the idea of the rebirth of Russian imperial greatness, and Ukraine is at the centre of it.
That's why Russians feel they have an inherent right to dominate Ukraine and other post-Soviet countries. And that's why for them, the rejection of Russian dominance anywhere automatically means "Russophobia" worthy of invasion.[...]
Ukraine is fighting for existence. It is defending against centuries-long oppression, and it needs all the help to survive.
It's not just Putin who wages this war. Russians are largely running on unchecked imperialistic thinking and want to completely reboot the empire.
Russia will not agree to anything like the "neutrality of Ukraine" or independence of just Donbas. Only complete dominance over Ukraine will be enough for Russia.
The ultimate way to achieve peace in Europe is to defeat Russian and let it desintegrate as an empire once and for all. Any compromise would mean the Russian neo-imperial machine will try to fight back later.