the myth of russians winning the world war two.

For this edition, I will focus on the glorified battlefield mythology of russian colonialism. To date, it remains the integral ideological foundation for the Kremlin to excuse colonial conquests and fascist language towards neighbours. It helps to inflate supremacy sentiments among ethnic russians while keeping conquered indigenous people intimidated and cooperative. It is also often used to guilt-trip some Western nations and dissuade them from criticism or sanctions targeting the russian genocidal regime.

Luckily, there's a growing body of historical research and reporting that helps to challenge this distorted propaganda narrative.

To put it simply: there's hardly a single military battle, cherished by russian colonial mythology, that was achieved by russians on their own.

I am also going to share a family story that I’ve never shared in writing before.

But first, let me share this decolonising postcard with you. Solidarny Dom Kultury Słonecznik, a brilliant group of Ukrainian artists, is promoting their collective anti-colonial work with this awesome t-shirt. They are planning a public drop for this fall and sent me one in advance.

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Roses are red. Violets are blue. russian colonialism, we are coming for you. ✊🏼🫂

here is what's in store for you this week:

• russia appropriates military victories of the past to reinforce its colonial future.

• The next time someone tells you russia "saved europe from nazism," remind them about this: russia ran ethnic cleansing campaigns at near-Nazi scale during the same war, used non-russian soldiers as cannon fodder, and reopened Nazi camps to slaughter tens of thousands more under the label of "denazification." russian “victory” mythology is built on graves the Kremlin still refuses to count — and on battles fought by colonised peoples who were never allowed to claim them.

• How both russian and Western colonial gazes render Ukrainians subhuman.

• How genocide-induced rage turbocharged decolonisation of Ukrainians.

• Only relatively recently has russia started denying its colonial nature. Before, there were generations of russian elites who openly admitted it.

• Effective storytelling that exposes russian colonialism: insights from prominent Ukrainian digital storytellers.

Like it?

Then Slava Ukraïni and let’s go.

Russian Colonialism 101 is the first newsletter to shed light on Russian colonialism and is part of the Volya Hub network.

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