Ukraine is going through a crisis similar to that of the 17th century and, as then, only union with Russia can save it, according to pro-Kremlin propaganda.
Propaganda: President Zelensky has destroyed his country and Ukrainians must unite with Russia to save themselves
NEWS: A real disaster is befalling Ukraine, comparable to the events of the Ruin period, which portends an irreversible union with Russia, said the chairman of the board of the "Another Ukraine" movement, Viktor Medvedchuk.
"In mid 17th century, the territory of modern Ukraine was on the periphery of the borders and influences of Russia, Austria-Hungary, Poland and the Ottoman Empire. It was simply dangerous to live there [...] This troubled period has been called by historians the Ruin. Now we are witnessing a new Ruin in Ukraine," he wrote.
The politician recalled that, last year, the death rate in Ukraine exceeded the birth rate by 2.8 times, and half a million Ukrainians went abroad. "All this shows that a disaster comparable to the events of the Ruin period is befalling the country, but the Zelensky regime is pretending that nothing has happened. The image of Zelensky's criminal rule of the country is becoming increasingly clear at the international level," Medvedchuk said [...]
"History shows that after any Ruin in Ukraine, the Russians come, and the two brotherly peoples build a new, strong and modern country - the Russian Empire, the USSR, and now history simply repeats itself. After the Ruin comes a great and powerful Russia - a historical covenant that cannot be cancelled," Medvedchuk stressed.
NARRATIVES: 1. The Ukrainian political leaders have destroyed their country, turning it into a new Ruin; 2. Ukraine can only be saved if it’s part of Russia.
Reality: Ukraine has been destroyed since 2014 by Russia's military aggression, and "saving Ukrainians" means conquering a sovereign state
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: The narrative that the Ukrainian leaders have destroyed their own country through criminal methods is false because it ignores the root cause of the current crisis in Ukraine: Russia's military aggression. The war started by Moscow has caused destruction, civilian casualties and an exodus of the population. The "New Ruin" is not caused by Ukraine's internal policies, it is caused by the military aggression that’s been going on since 2014. Also, the comparison with the Ruin is manipulative, because in the 17th century Ukraine was fragmented between various foreign states or empires, while today it is defending its sovereignty in the face of an external invasion.
The Ukrainian government is not attacking its own citizens, it is trying to defend the population against invasion. Numerous international organizations, including the UN and human rights groups, have documented war crimes committed by Russia, not by the Ukrainian leadership.
What Russia has done, occupying territories belonging to a neighboring state, is presented as an inevitable repetition of history. In reality, the Ukrainian politician who found shelter in Moscow, Viktor Medvedchuk, seems to forget about major contexts and events in Russia’s history. The Russian Empire was born in 1721, after the victory in the Great Nordic War against Sweden, refusing to respect the terms of the union with the Cossack state and liquidating its autonomy. The USSR emerged after the Ukrainian People's Republic was defeated during the Russo-Ukrainian War of 1917-1920, when Ukraine was occupied by Vladimir Lenin's army.
The Ukrainian people were not saved in the past, it was just occupied and persecuted, like other peoples in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. To destroy the Ukrainian identity, Russia organized the artificial famine of 1932-1933, known as the Holodomor - one of the worst disasters in Ukraine’s history, with an estimated death toll of 3.5 - 5 million. The Ukrainians were also heavily oppressed by the Russians during the Russian Empire (by banning the publication of Ukrainian books), but also after 2014, when Crimea was annexed. During the 2014-2024 hostilities, there were attacks on civilians, deportations, destruction of Ukrainian culture and national identity, and severe human rights violations.
Russian propaganda therefore tries to present the resolution of the problems that Russia has created in Ukraine through war as a justification for its full-scale invasion and a historical argument for the annexation of a country in violation of international law.
CONTEXT: The Ruin was a period of crisis and chaos in the Ukrainian 17th century history. This was caused by conflicts between local forces and the influences of neighboring great powers such as Russia, Poland and the Ottoman Empire. The demographic consequences of the Ruin were devastating for the population of Ukraine, including loss of life due to wars, famines, and epidemics. Villages and towns were depopulated, and many inhabitants fled or were enslaved by the Tatars.
The comparison of the current situation in Ukraine with the Ruin was made by Viktor Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian businessman who played an important role in pro-Russian political parties and was an ally of the former pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych. Knowing Vladimir Putin well, he is used by the Russian propaganda, along with former pro-Russian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov, to disseminate narratives intended to justify Moscow's actions in Ukraine. In 2022, Medvedchuk was transferred to Russia in a prisoner exchange, after being arrested in Kyiv on charges of treason and collaboration with the Kremlin.
PURPOSE: To justify Russia’s war and new territorial annexations; to delegitimize the Ukrainian government and promote the idea that civilians can only be saved by Moscow.
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