How Russia steals Ukrainian history to justify its aggression

Crediting Russia as the sole successor of the medieval Kyivan Rus and laying claims to all of the lands it controlled, erasing histories of Ukrainian cities such as Kharkiv and Odesa and justifying attacks on them while also labeling Ukrainian artists and scientists as being actually Russian, is part of Moscow’s ongoing quest to erase Ukraine, its history and culture. The fifth episode of “Ukraine’s True History“ explains how Russia stole Ukrainian history and uses it to justify its all-out war. Read the story here: This material is funded by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting within the program “Ukraine Forward: Amplifying Analysis.” The program is financed by the MATRA Programme of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Ukraine. Producer: Natalia Chekotun Scriptwriters: Oleg Sukhov, Natalia Chekotun Story editors: Oleksiy Sorokin, Toma Istomina Illustration: Alina Radomska Animation, sound: Anastasia Nevmerzhytska Narrator: Anthony Bartaway Project coordinator: Anna Yakutenko 00:00 - Intro 00:42 - Where was Kyivan Rus located? 00:56 - Russia and Kyivan Rus 01:17 - The word “Rus“ 01:25 - The word “Rus“ and Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia 01:44 - The word “Rus“ and Moscow Tsardom 02:17 - Is Ukraine or Russia the main successor of Kyivan Rus? 02:37 - Little Russia, Great Russia and White Russia 02:57 - The term “Little Rus“ 03:06 - Why does Moscow call Ukraine “Little Russia“? 03:17 - The name “Ukraine“ 03:33 - What is “New Russia“? 04:27 - Is Odesa “historically Russian“? 04:37 - Monument to Russian Empress Catherine II in Odesa 04:57 - Greek settlements in Odesa 05:10 - The town of Hadhibey 05:39 - Is Kharkiv “historically Russian“? 05:55 - Kharkiv and Sloboda Cossacks 06:08 - Is “Crimea“ historically Russian? 06:20 - Greeks and Crimean Tatars 06:52 - Russia appropriates Ukrainian scientists and artists 07:02 - Writer Mykola Gogol 07:45 - Scientist Serhiy Korolov 08:34 - Aviation engineer Ihor Sikorsky 09:16 - Russia appropriating Ukrainian history 09:26 - Ukraine reclaims its history 09:42 - Kuindzhi, Repin and Malevych recognized as Ukrainian artists Photos and videos used in the story: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Ivan Honchar Museum YouTube/Odesa City Council facebook/Kharkiv City Council facebook/Serhiy Hutsaliuk Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS telegram/Margarita Simonyan YouTube/Vladimir Rodin YouTube/Anatoliy Myrhorod YouTube/Andrey Kochurov YouTube/Zhytomyr YouTube/Dark Skies YouTube/Oleg Prylutskyi Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images Kyiv International Airport Kyiv Polytechnic Institute facebook/Sergíy Kyslytsya facebook/Oksana Semenik Dean Conger/Corbis via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images YouTube/Ukraine & Volyn history British Film Institute Getty Images