DISINFO: Ukrainians are Russians brainwashed by the West
SUMMARY
Deep down, the Ukrainians are Russian people who, unfortunately, have simply been brainwashed, and not just over the past 30 years. This is a fairly successful cognitive project by the West that has produced its results.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative denying Ukrainian statehood. This claim was made in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The narrative that Ukrainians are ‘really Russians’ serves the Kremlin's geopolitical agenda of claiming ownership of selected people and a superior position in the Eurasian space. The ideology behind such a claim is naked imperialism.
The claim and is not supported by Ukraine’s history or the will of its people. Ukrainians are not ‘Russian people’ but a distinct nation with a deep history, unique identity, and sovereign statehood.
While Ukraine and Russia share a common history dating back to Kyivan Rus' (9th–13th centuries), they have developed distinct identities over centuries. Ukrainian culture, including folklore, music, and religious traditions, has unique characteristics that set it apart from Russian culture. Ukrainian is a distinct language with its own literature, traditions, and identity. It is not a dialect of Russian but a separate East Slavic language. During the Soviet era, there were policies aimed at suppressing Ukrainian culture and promoting Russian language and identity (Russification). The region gradually became all the more Russified on account of the Soviet industrialisation effort and the Holodomor of 1932-33, a man-made famine in which millions of ethnic Ukrainians were wiped out and replaced by a massive influx of Russians.
Ukraine declared independence in 1991, a decision supported by over 90% of voters in a national referendum, which demonstrated a clear desire for a distinct national identity. Post-independence Ukraine has sought to revive and assert its unique identity, which is not a result of "brainwashing" but a natural reclamation of national heritage. Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations, enshrined in its constitution, reflect the people's commitment to freedom, democracy, and the rule of law.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that Ukraine has no independent history – its fake history is the anti-Russian brainwashing, that Ukraine did not, does not and will not exist, and that Ukraine was created by the USSR on ethnic Russian lands.