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Articles by Serhy Yekelchyk
Short Nonfiction
“This is the best single, short introduction to the whole First World War. It’s a remarkable piece of concision. Sir Michael has apparently absorbed all the research about the First World War and then boiled it down to 150 pages, which is remarkable.” Read more...
Homage to Poland
Poland’s standing with Ukraine in the darkest hour of the Russian invasion shifted Ukrainian-Polish relations to an entirely new level, that of people’s diplomacy. .When I was growing up in Soviet Ukraine, Poland appeared enigmatic to me—it was both attractive and dangerous, a place from which Ukrainian visitors brought magazines that seemed glamorous by our standards, music LPs, and chewing gum. There were also felt-tipped pens of various colors, twenty or so in a single package.
The Birth of the Soviet Union and the Death of the Russian Revolution
One hundred years ago, at the end of December 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was born. A little more than five years after the end of the Russian Revolution that brought the Tsarist Empire to an end, a multi-ethnic nation-state that promised a socialist future and the protection of national identity was established out of the chaos of civil war.
Understanding Ukraine
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Deconstructing imperial knowledge
Professor of history Serhy Yekelchyk spoke with poet, translator, writer, and PEN Ukraine Honorary President Mykola Riabchuk on 16 June 2022 for PEN Ukraine’s series #DialoguesOnWar. This is an edited transcription of key moments from their discussion. You can check out the recorded conversation here. Serhy Yekelchyk: I am currently in Canada, on an island on the Pacific coast, perhaps in the most distant location from the war in Ukraine.
Who is Putin fighting against?
Ukraine: What Everyone Needs to Know® Read a free chapter, "Land and the People", from Ukraine: What Everyone Needs to Know®. By Serhy Yekelchyk June 1st 2022 The Russian invasion of Ukraine has highlighted a curious disconnect between the supposed ideological objective of the war and the means used to achieve it. In Russian official discourse of the late Putin era, Ukrainians are seen as part of the Russian people rather than a separate ethnic group.
Historical Memory Starkly Divides Ukraine From Russia
When the residents of the Ukrainian capital woke up at 5 a.m. on Feb. 24 to the sounds of explosions and sirens, the oldest of them experienced a disquieting sense of déjà vu. They had already lived through one early-morning bombing of Kyiv that irrevocably changed their lives—on June 22, 1941, when Hitler attacked the Soviet Union. My parents were among those senior Kyiv residents hunkering down in apartments or rushing to bomb shelters.
Books to Read If You Want to Know More About Ukraine | Adult Reads
The Border: A Journey Around Russia through North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belorussia, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Noway and the Northeast Passage by Erika Fatland Book | eBook
Russia and Ukraine Books
Before we get to the books could you explain what, in your view, the conflict between Russia and the Ukraine is about? It has been framed again and again in terms of Russia and NATO. There are some elements of the conflict that are about Russia and NATO, but there are also deeper roots. It is a situation that probably could be recognized anywhere in the world—because what we see is the process of disintegration of one of the last world empires.
Die Ukraine und Russland sind nicht dasselbe Land
Viele Russen teilen die Wahnvorstellung Wladimir Putins, dass die Ukraine schon immer zu Russland gehört hat. Ein Blick auf die Geschichte zeigt, dass die Wahrheit viel komplizierter ist. Ein Gastbeitrag von Serhy Yekelchyk. Im letzten Sommer verfasste der russische Präsident Wladimir Putin einen langen historischen Artikel mit dem Titel "Über die historische Einheit von Russen und Ukrainern", und so manchem Ukrainer wurde dabei mulmig.
Russia and Ukraine Are Very Different Countries
In 2003, the pro-Russian president of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma published a ghost-written book called "Ukraine Is Not Russia." Last summer, Russian President Vladimir Putin authored a long historical article making the opposite argument — it was called “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians” — and many a Ukrainian heart sank. Sure enough, in less than six months, Russian troops and tanks started massing near the Ukrainian border. Read Full Article »
Ukraine Is Not Russia. Or Is It?
In 2003, the pro-Russian president of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma published a ghost-written book called "Ukraine Is Not Russia." Last summer, Russian President Vladimir Putin authored a long historical article making the opposite argument — it was called “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians” — and many a Ukrainian heart sank. Sure enough, in less than six months, Russian troops and tanks started massing near the Ukrainian border.
Opinion | Sorry, Mr. Putin. Ukraine and Russia are Not the Same Country. Original
As it happens, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine also has some connection to history writing. A popular comedian, he starred in a sitcom about an ordinary history teacher who accidentally becomes the president and finds himself trying to fix a corrupt political system. He was believable in the role and, incredibly, without any previous political experience, ended up being elected Ukraine’s real president at the age of 41.
Russia’s Annexation of the Crimea and the War in the Donbas
p. 104What shared characteristics led the Crimean Peninsula and the Donbas region to become conflict zones? These two regions are not in immediate geographic proximity to one another. The Donbas, comprising Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, is Ukraine’s easternmost region, bordering on Russia in the north and east. The Crimean Peninsula, which was constituted politically within Ukraine as the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea, was the country’s southernmost tip extending into the Black Sea.
Red Famine
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The Ukrainian Crisis: In Russia's Long Shadow
Within a matter of months, events in Ukraine have transformed the global political order that emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. A startled world has watched Ukraine’s political crisis unfold as demonstrators took over Kyiv’s Independence Square and forced Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych from office (and from the country).
Ukraine's two years of living dangerously | OUPblog
Although the last two years have brought unprecedented international media attention to Ukraine, most Ukrainians would be happy to trade this newfound spotlight for a return to peace and normalcy. As the country approaches the second anniversary of the Euromaidan Revolution, its citizens look back at a growing list of unfulfilled promises and squandered opportunities that the new government has accumulated.
Understanding modern Ukraine: a timeline
As with most other countries, the Ukraine we know today—with everything good, bad, and in-between about it—is a result of its history. It shares more than half its borders with Russia, accounting for the two countries’ complicated history. Ukraine’s roots began in the ninth century, spanning across centuries and leading up to the conflict that has caused political and social turbulence in the past few years.
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