Edited by: Sonia Maryn, Kate RyabchiyEditor’s Note
The ideology of Ukrainians and Russians as “brotherly nations” is now dead, just like the once-popular idea of the “brotherhood” of Poles and Russians. Ukrainians were like Scots in the British Empire, helping build and maintain it, but that time has now passed. This means that Ukrainians are finally taking ownership of their state, ending the centuries-long hostility to their empire-building elites. About this and more in our interview with world-known historian Serhii Plokhii.
After the Russian Empire conquered Ukraine in the 18th century, the myth of a triune Rus emerged to justify the emerging empire. Ironically, some of Kyiv’s church elites contributed to westernizing the Russian empire. Still, eventually, the notion of brotherly peoples and the Great Russian nation turned into a tool to oppress Ukrainians. To read more about the evolution of the myth of brotherly nations in the Russian empire and USSR: