Photo: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
Holodomor
The Holodomor genocide of 1932–33 killed millions of Ukrainians. Its memory shaped Ukraine’s drive for independence and resistance to Moscow’s rule.
Photo: AFP
Chornobyl
The 1986 Chornobyl disaster and Moscow’s cover-up destroyed trust in the Soviet system. But Russia’s aggression didn’t end there
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Assets War
When it came to dividing Soviet assets worth hundreds of billions, Ukraine was promised 16%. Russia kept it all.
Photo: Borys Mykhailov
Betrayal
Ukraine gave up the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal in exchange for security guarantees from the U.S., U.K., and Russia. Yet despite treaties promising to respect Ukraine’s borders, Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014—and wages full-scale war today.
Ukrainian soldiers preparing to destroy a ballistic missile. Photo: AP
Trade Wars
Even before 2014, Russia attacked Ukraine with trade wars—cutting off gas in 2005 and blocking imports in 2013. Moscow used economics as a weapon every time Ukraine moved closer to independence or Europe.
Photo: AFP/Getty Images
Propaganda War
In 2008, Putin told President Bush: “Ukraine is not even a country.” Russian propaganda echoed this message at home and abroad, preparing the ground for war.
Photo: Guang Niu/Getty Images
Russia used not just politics and media but also movies, music, and books to push its narratives—ridiculing Ukrainians as fools or criminals while suppressing their culture. The goal was simple: erase Ukraine’s identity culturally, then attack it physically.
Photo: Andriy Zhyhaylo/Getty Images
The War
For centuries, Russia pushed the myth of “brotherly nations,” masking conquest and repression as unity while dismissing Ukraine’s identity as fake.
Since independence, Ukraine chose democracy and peace—while Moscow waged wars from Chechnya to Georgia to Syria, and finally launched the largest war in Europe since WWII.
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