Ukraine's true history: Debunking centuries of Russian fakes
Dear Kyiv Independent community members,
We are happy to announce the launch of our new project, "Ukraine's true history." We will be publishing stories, videos, and a newsletter explaining Ukraine's past and present without distortions and myths.
We're set to walk you through topics such as Ukrainian 20th-century nationalism, how Russia went to great lengths to steal Ukrainian culture, the true history of Crimea, and explain Russia's never-ending attempts to conquer Ukraine.
Subscribers will have a chance to win one of the 10 copies of Serhii Plokhy's future book, The Russo-Ukrainian War, with the author's signature.
"I have been writing about the history of Russian-Ukrainian relations for the last three decades, and still the all-out attack on Ukraine by Putin's Russia came as a surprise to me," says Plokhy.
Comments (19)
The online free lectures by Yale University professor Timothy Snyder on the making of modern Ukraine are excellent also.
Hello Karen, while researching for infomaion about Ukrainian history I found 3 German Books from Andreas Keppler and Jens Mühling The titles are A. Keppler: "Unequal brothers: Russian and Ukrainian. From Middle Age until today" and "Small history of the Ukraine."(both C H Beck) J. Mühling "Black Earth: A trip through Ukraine"(Rowohldt) Maybe you want to contact the publishers in order to be able to translate them
I'm a publisher who has focused on explaining other parts of the world to Americans - especially high school and community college students. We have This Is China and This Is America, for example. I wonder if there is a basic history of Ukraine for them? I have published much on world history but there isn't a lot, really, on Ukraine. These books are only 25,000 words, about 100 pages. I wonder who could write one? Karen Christensen, Berkshire Publishing Group. berkshirepublishing.com
Hello Karen, thank you for your comment! I will pass this along to the team!
I started my research by reading Herodotus. I'm looking forward to learning what has happened in the intervening years! 🙏🏽 Slava Ukraïni
This is a very good topic, I am looking forward to it a lot. I love learning about history anyway, and Ukrainian history is very interesting and important. You mentioned the course will be open, not behind a paywall (thanks for this). Is it permissible to share the above subscription link outside of Patreon?
Hi Matthew! Yes, anyone can subscribe to the newsletter, patron or non-patron. Thank you for sharing! :)
Ukrianian history, and especially Crimean history, has been polluted by Russian propaganda for too long. I really appreciate works of the Kyiv Independent that help us foreigners to understand Ukriane.
That is a brilliant topic. I am already tired of the "since long time ago" rhetoric of Russia's perspective of Ukrainian history. I can't wait for your articles or videos that I am so eager to share with others.
I had a Polish Professor at a University in the USA. He was once part of the Warsaw Uprising in WW2. He was arrested and sent to labor at Dachau where he was rescued by Americans. He spoke with great passion about the Holodomor in Ukraine, and what Stalin did. He invoked the history of the Ukrainian people and the language the Russians tried to oppress. I will never forget what he told us.
Thank you for sharing this. I admire and respect people like this who fight evil in spite of the danger. I had an art teacher who’d been part of the resistance in Holland during the war. She’d been just a teenager. They’d caught her and put her in one of the camps. She talked very little about it.
Applebaum’s Red Famine- Stalin’s war against Ukraine is a great history of the 30’s!
Anne Applebaum’s
Looking forward to this. Ukrainian history has been a particular interest of mine since I read "Harvest of Sorrow", more than 20 years ago. A grim introduction to be sure, but I also read "Borderland" shortly thereafter, a less depressing book and a good overview of Ukrainian history. Much more recently, I have also got into Serhii Plokhy's books, which are excellent. It still boggles my mind that the terrible history of the 30s is still unknown in the West.
Please consider making this content available widely outside any paywall. Professor Plohky’s book is excellent, but long and very complex. Would be GREAT to have a place to send some pigheaded acquaintances to learn the true history of Ukraine, apart from Putin’s delusions. Слава Україні! Героям слава!
Hi Michael, thank you for your comment! This project is not exclusive content for our members and will be available without a paywall :)
I am glad Prof. Plokhy is writing a new book about the war. I have read his "Gates of Europe" general history of Ukraine, and it is very good. Also highly recommended is Prof. Timothy Snyder's Yale undergrad course, available free on YouTube, "The Making of Modern Ukraine", for which Prof. Plohky's book was one of the assigned readings. One cannot appreciate the breadth and depth of Putin's lies without understanding Ukrainian history.
сердечно дякую!Thank you very much, so looking forward to the launch of this important project. Protecting and sharing the truth is vitally important. I think you have discovered the world does indeed want to learn much more about Ukraine, Ukrainians, and hear directly from Ukrainians. I am confident I will learn much, and so will many of your global community. Slava Ukrayini,
I hope this will include much about Ukrainian culture, and go back as far as possible into Ukraine’s historic past. Thank you for doing this.