Yurii Latysh, NUIEC Scholar Lecture Series

Country of Origin: Belarus
Location: Brazil

“De-Ukrainization: Russian approaches to politics of memory in the occupied Ukrainian territories”

The Russо-Ukrainian war is eschatological for the aggressor. It is waged not for economic interests (like most known wars), nor for the occupation of new lands. The talk argues that the aim of the war is to destroy the Ukrainian identity and fight for geopolitical influence in the world. The clash of two narratives of historical memory (Russian imperial with the Ukrainian national) was a significant reason for the aggression of the Russian Federation towards Ukraine. The talk tries to make the case that the Russian government uses and abuses history during the war, justifying the violation of international law and human rights. They deny the existence of the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian language, argue that the Ukrainian state has no own history, declared the concepts of the Russian world, Novorossiya (territories of southern Ukraine that were allegedly torn away from Russia), the divided Russian people, Ukraine as a Nazi state, etc.

Willing to share personal story.