korrents

What Serhii Plokhy thinks about Russia

@serhii-plokhy · 30 positions · 0 changes of mind

Ukrainian-American historian, professor of Ukrainian history at Harvard University and director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute.

Serhii Plokhy did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

12 dated positions, 2024, in their own words. Our reading of what Serhii Plokhy has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingThe fall of the Soviet Union was not a one-off event but the continuation of the disintegration of the Russian Empire that began in 1917 and was merely arrested by the Bolsheviks.

    Their wordsAnd the Soviet collapse is continuation of the disintegration of the Russian Empire that started back in 1917, that was arrested for some period of time by the Bolsheviks, by the Communist ideology, which was internationalist ideology. And then came back in full force in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

    ↗Serhii Plokhy: History of Ukraine, Russia, Soviet Union, KGB, Nazis & War | Lex Fridman Podcast #415youtube.com 2nd of 30 in this recording

    Interesting

  3. Our readingRussian nationalism turned out to be as destructive to the multinational Soviet state as Ukrainian, Georgian or Estonian nationalism was.

    Their wordsSo the most important story for me, this is the story of the continuing collapse of the Russian Empire and the rise of not just local nationalism, but also rise of Russian nationalism that turned out to be as a destructive force for the imperial or multi-ethnic, multinational state, as was Ukrainian nationalism or Georgian or Estonian for that matter.

    ↗Serhii Plokhy: History of Ukraine, Russia, Soviet Union, KGB, Nazis & War | Lex Fridman Podcast #415youtube.com 3rd of 30 in this recording

    Interesting

  5. Our readingUkraine's vote for independence is what ended the Soviet Union, and Ukraine is exactly as decisive today for anyone wanting to restore Russian control over the post-Soviet space.

    Their wordsAnd the combination of all this factors led to the processes in which Ukraine’s decision to go independent spelled the end to the Soviet Union. And if today anybody wants to restore, not the Soviet Union, but some form of Russian control over the post-Soviet space, Ukraine is as important today as it was back in December of 1991.

    ↗Serhii Plokhy: History of Ukraine, Russia, Soviet Union, KGB, Nazis & War | Lex Fridman Podcast #415youtube.com 7th of 30 in this recording

    war

    Interesting

  7. Our readingWhen Putin calls the Soviet collapse the greatest catastrophe of the century he is not mourning lives lost but great power status and the unity of the people he counts as Russian.

    Their wordsSo for him, the biggest tragedy is not the loss of life, the biggest tragedy is the loss of the great power status or the unity of those whom he considered to be Russian nations.

    ↗Serhii Plokhy: History of Ukraine, Russia, Soviet Union, KGB, Nazis & War | Lex Fridman Podcast #415youtube.com 8th of 30 in this recording

    Interesting

  9. Our readingRus is not Russia: it was a self-name for many different groups on that territory, and Moscow did not yet exist when Kyiv became a capital.

    Their wordsSo very important to keep in mind that Rus is not Russia because that was a self-name for all multiple groups on that territory. And Moscow doesn’t exist at the time when Kyiv emerges as the capital. The first reference to Moscow comes from the 12th century when it was founded by one of the Kievan princes.

    ↗Serhii Plokhy: History of Ukraine, Russia, Soviet Union, KGB, Nazis & War | Lex Fridman Podcast #415youtube.com 9th of 30 in this recording

    Interesting

  11. Our readingThe Russian Empire acquired a sixth of the Earth by integrating conquered elites rather than their peoples, and nationalism is what made that model fall apart.

    Their wordsThe elites would be integrated, and the empire was based on the state loyalty and the state integration. But once you bring in the factor of nation and nationalism and language, then, once in a sudden, the whole model of the integration of the elites, irrespective of their language, religion, and culture, starts falling apart.

    ↗Serhii Plokhy: History of Ukraine, Russia, Soviet Union, KGB, Nazis & War | Lex Fridman Podcast #415youtube.com 10th of 30 in this recording

    religion

    Interesting

  13. Our readingThe Russian language is not persecuted in Ukraine, and believing that it is has one important precondition: never having set foot in the country.

    Their wordsSo, imagine under those conditions and context that someone is persecuting ethnic Russians or Russian speakers. One, to believe in something like that, one important precondition is never to step your foot in Ukraine.

    ↗Serhii Plokhy: History of Ukraine, Russia, Soviet Union, KGB, Nazis & War | Lex Fridman Podcast #415youtube.com 18th of 30 in this recording

    war

    Interesting

  15. Our readingRussians and Ukrainians behave differently even when they speak the same language: police violence ended the protests at Bolotnaya and began them on the Maidan.

    Their wordsYou have Bolotnaya in Moscow and police violence, and that’s the end of it. You have the Maidan in Ukraine and you have police violence, and that’s the beginning, that’s not the end.

    ↗Serhii Plokhy: History of Ukraine, Russia, Soviet Union, KGB, Nazis & War | Lex Fridman Podcast #415youtube.com 19th of 30 in this recording

    war

    Interesting

  17. Our readingRussian identity formed around the state and cannot imagine itself outside one, while the Ukrainian project came into existence in revolt against the state.

    Their wordsRussia and Russian identity was formed around the state, and has difficulty imagining itself outside of the state, and that state happened to be imperial for most of Russian history. Ukrainian project came into existence in revolt against the state.

    ↗Serhii Plokhy: History of Ukraine, Russia, Soviet Union, KGB, Nazis & War | Lex Fridman Podcast #415youtube.com 20th of 30 in this recording

    Interesting

  19. Our readingNATO was the justification for the invasion of Ukraine and not its cause: if it were the real concern, half the Russian army would have moved to the new Finnish border.

    Their wordsSo if NATO is the real concern, it would be probably not completely unreasonable to expect that if not every single soldier, but at least half of the Russian army fighting in Ukraine would be moved to protect the new border with NATO in Finland.

    ↗Serhii Plokhy: History of Ukraine, Russia, Soviet Union, KGB, Nazis & War | Lex Fridman Podcast #415youtube.com 21st of 30 in this recording

    war

    Interesting

  21. Our readingWriting five Ukrainian regions into the Russian constitution tied the hands of Putin and of any successor: there is no return to the borders of 2022 without political change in Moscow.

    Their wordsSo that means that no return to the borders of 2022 without political change in Moscow are possible.

    ↗Serhii Plokhy: History of Ukraine, Russia, Soviet Union, KGB, Nazis & War | Lex Fridman Podcast #415youtube.com 23rd of 30 in this recording

    Interesting

  23. Our readingThe war Russia is fighting in Ukraine is, in intellectual terms, the plan Solzhenitsyn formulated: a Russian nation state of Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians, and failing that, Donbas, Crimea and southern Ukraine.

    Their wordsSo in historical terms and intellectual terms, what is happening today in the war between Russia and Ukraine is the vision on one level or another level that was formulated by the noble laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, half Russian, half Ukrainian.

    ↗Serhii Plokhy: History of Ukraine, Russia, Soviet Union, KGB, Nazis & War | Lex Fridman Podcast #415youtube.com 24th of 30 in this recording

    war

    Interesting