“Any move by the West towards the former Soviet republics is seen as damaging Russia’s interests" the Russian media quoted Putin, "He has a discussion there about Big Russia and Little Russia — Ukraine" quoting a White Army commander during the Bolshevik Revolution. Putin’s reference on Sunday to "Little Russia" — a term used during the Russian Empire to describe parts of modern-day Ukraine that came under Tsarist rule — has raised hackles in Ukraine, where many consider it demeaning and offensive. A political analyst remarked"Russia is engaged in a propaganda war against Ukraine, designed to convince the West not to support Ukraine. Russia doesn’t understand cooperation with equals, only with subordinates."

Ukraine and Russia are again in the midst of a heated battle — this time, about the countries’ shared Soviet past. As Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko this week lamented that Ukraine had become "a hostage in the fight between two totalitarian regimes — fascist and communist" and called for Soviet-era symbols around the country to be torn down. He also called for Ukraine to "finally purge itself of the symbols of a regime that destroyed millions of innocent people," saying that 400 such monuments were taken down last year. His Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev ordered the creation of a presidential commission "to counter attempts to harm Russian interests by falsifying history". Last Tuesday, Medvedev announced the creation of a presidential commission to work to protect Russia’s history from being revised or re-evaluated in any way that tarnishes Russia’s image, but intellectuals fear a manipulation of Russia’s past.

65 years ago, after being falsely accused by Stalin of mass collaboration with the Nazi German invaders, the entire Crimean Tatar population was loaded onto trains and deported to Central Asia over a period of just three days in May 1944. Almost half would die over the following year. Twenty years since they first began to return, there are over 250,000 Tatars in Crimea, around 13% of the population. Once back, though, the Tatars’ troubles were hardly ended. The houses many had once owned or lived in were now occupied by Russian settlers. The State Security Service of Ukraine is establishing a special unit to investigate Stalin-era crimes against Crimean Tatars.

Continue reading Ukrainian news round-up 5/26/09 – Putin calls Ukraine ‘Little Russia’, Crimea Tartars struggle in Russian-dominate Crimea and remembering Bykivnya →