The Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires, Poland and Lithuania have all “wielded jurisdiction over Ukraine” but the Ukrainian People’s Republic earned its independence in 1917. In 1921, however, Soviet rule was established over the nation as the Russian Red Army conquered two-thirds of Ukraine. Putin twists this history by stating that the Ukrainian independence movement instead began during the German occupation of the territory during World War II. He mentions that some independence fighters supported the Nazi cause, meaning that modern Ukrainians push for their sovereignty as a “Nazi endeavor” (The 20th-Century History behind Russia’s invasion of Ukraine). It is important to mention that although some, especially in Western Ukraine saw the Germans as liberators, they “didn’t want to live under the Germans so much as escape the Soviets”.
It is also important to remember that the “Holodomor”, a combination of the Ukrainian words for starvation and inflicting death, claimed the lives of about 13% of the Ukrainian population. It was a human-made famine that “punished Ukrainian farmers who fought Soviet mandates to collectivize”. There was also a “Russification” campaign pushed by the Soviets that punished many Ukrainian intellectuals and elites.
Ukrainians were placed in a tough position during the Second World War. They saw cooperating with the Nazis and engaging in the Holocaust as the only way of earning their independence from the Soviets. However, some Nazis then turned against their Ukrainian allies. This can be seen through the story of Stepan Bandera who allied himself with the Germans “only to end up in a concentration camp after he refused to rescind a proclamation of Ukrainian statehood in 1941”.
National history is never simple. It is important to allow the Ukrainian people to tell their stories and share their own experiences. It is also important to not turn towards one-sided explanations, to not label the Ukrainian nationalists as “unconditional good guys”. Current Ukrainian patriotism can coexist with confronting the unfortunate involvement Ukrainians played during the Holocaust. It is just important for present-day Ukrainians to know the whole story. Russia is trying to convince its citizens that the war is justified by painting the Ukrainian nationalists as Nazis, using 20th century history to push a disinformation campaign.
Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-18018002