The Long Prehistory of Russia’s War against Ukraine

Presented by Serhy Yekelchyk at the Ohio State University Department of History Center for Historical Research. This talk discusses the history of Russo-Ukrainian relations and its representation in both countries following the Soviet collapse in 1991. It demonstrates how Putin’s nostalgia for the tsarist empire made Ukraine the likeliest target of Russian aggression and how Russia’s rejection of democracy determined the timing of the invasion.
Born and educated in Ukraine, Serhy Yekelchyk received a Ph.D. from the University of Alberta. He is the author of seven books on modern Ukrainian history and Russo-Ukrainian relations including the award-winning "Stalin’s Citizens: Everyday Politics in the Wake of Total War" (Oxford University Press, 2014). A professor of History and Slavic Studies at the University of Victoria, Yekelchyk is current president of the Canadian Association for Ukrainian Studies.
This talk was sponsored by the Center for Historical Research, the Mershon Center for International Security Studies, the Center for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies, and the Department of Political Science.