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History Illustrated: Russia and Ukraine, a history of violence

Putin thinks Ukraine belongs to Russia based on what happened 1,000 years ago. The Ukrainians could not disagree more.

By Danylo Hawaleshka

History Illustrated is a weekly series of insightful perspectives that puts news events and current affairs into an historical context using graphics generated with artificial intelligence.

Panel-02 — This thing between Russia and Ukraine didn’t start with Putin’s invasion.

Panel-03 — This thing goes back a thousand years, to the grand prince of Kyiv, Vladimir I, when he was baptised an Orthodox Christian.

Panel-04 — Today, many Russian nationalists figure that makes Ukrainians one of them. But does it?

Panel-05 — People have wanted a piece of Ukraine for centuries. In 1793, for instance, the empress of Russia annexed a lot of present-day Ukraine.

Panel-06 — Early in the 20th century, Lenin made sure Ukraine became a founding republic of the Soviet Union. In 1991, as Gorbachev and Yeltsin watched the Soviet Union collapse, Ukraine declared independence.

Panel-07 — Later, Putin showed up, and started eying Ukraine all over again.

Panel-08 — But the Orange Revolution and EuroMaidan protests put the brakes on any plans the Russian president might have had.

Panel-09 — In the aftermath, though, Putin annexed Crimea, started a low-grade war in eastern Ukraine and, in 2022, launched a full-on invasion.

Panel-10 — Today, with the US and China on opposite sides of this thing, the stakes in this war—not just for Ukrainians, but for all of us—could not be higher.

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