In recent years, the Kremlin has sought to cast Russia as a bastion of so-called traditional values, positioning itself in stark contrast to what it describes as the morally decaying West. Yet beneath this veneer, a more complex reality persists. As exiled Russian philosopher Alexey Zhavoronkov told the Kyiv Independent,
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a growing debate has emerged over the cultural and political legacy of Russian literature — particularly the global reverence for classic Russian authors, which critics argue has long served to promote the imperial narratives embedded in their work. As
English speakers the world over long referred to Ukraine’s capital as Kiev, not realizing they were using the Russian name for the city.
Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, voted on Sept. 19 to rename 327 settlements that had names related to the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union.
Kiper made the statement after Odesa Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov criticized the renaming of streets on Aug. 1, claiming that Odesa City Council had "nothing to do with this."
Odesa City Council's historical and toponymic commission has proposed renaming three streets and one square named after Russian historical figures, the city council announced on April 4.
It's widely believed that Ukrainian Cossacks were formed from a diverse mix of East Slavic free peasants, escaped serfs, and even nobles.
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