From: Atlantic Council By Taras Kuzio
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has provided chilling confirmation that Russia’s attack on Ukraine is an old-fashioned imperial war with the end goal of extinguishing Ukrainian identity. Speaking at a March 4 festival in Sochi, Medvedev spelled out his rejection of Ukrainian statehood and elaborated on the imperial objectives underpinning Russia’s ongoing invasion. “One of Ukraine’s former leaders once said Ukraine is not Russia. That concept needs to disappear forever,” he declared. “Ukraine is definitely Russia.”
Medvedev was referring to former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma’s 2003 book, “Ukraine Is Not Russia.” However, Russia’s imperial ambitions in Ukraine are far older and can be traced back hundreds of years. Beginning in the early decades of the eighteenth century, generations of Russian rulers have sought to erase the entire notion of a separate Ukrainian nation. They have employed a range of tools including settler colonialism, blanket russification, artificial famine, and the ruthless suppression of Ukrainian national identity.
Voice of Ukraine 