If Putin’s goal in Ukraine is capturing Kyiv, ethno-nationalism may make compromise impossible

Russian President Vladimir Putin (via Pixabay)

Anything said in an effort to explain Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine needs an important qualifier. I do **NOT** believe that the attack on Ukraine was justified. However, we need to understand what Putin is doing, and why he is doing it.

I’ve attached a link to an article from the Kremlin — probably the first time I’ve ever done this — that explains, in the Russian president’s own words, why he believes Ukraine and Russia are one country and why he believes that Ukraine has no separate national identity.

Here’s the link: “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians” http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/66181

I’ve also included several articles commenting on Putin’s views, including an almost mystical reverence for Kyiv as the cradle of Russian Orthodoxy and the Russian national identity.

Here’s an article by an Orthodox man written back in 2014, “Putin’s Orthodox Jihad,” after the Russian annexation of Crimea, warning about the role of Kyiv in Russian Orthodox history and what could come next: https://20committee.wordpress.com/2014/12/27/putins-orthodox-jihad/

Here’s an article analyzing Putin’s article: https://unherd.com/2022/01/putin-has-history-on-his-side/