Yet another Russian invasion? Echoes of 1917–20 in Russia’s war on Ukraine

The revolution of 1917–20 has become a prominent reference point in discussions of the current Russo-Ukrainian war in both countries, in part because Vladimir Putin blames Vladimir Lenin for the creation of an “artificial” Ukraine from “historical” Russian lands. This article argues instead that the Bolshevik conquest of Ukraine was, in many respects, similar to Putin’s war. Lenin and the Russian Bolsheviks operating in Ukraine shared many cultural assumptions and policies with their ideological nemesis, the Russian White Army, and ultimately with Putin’s ideologues. Paramount among these was an “imperial ambiguity” about what Ukraine was in relation to Russia, reflecting uncertainty about Russia’s own identity. Some Ukrainian Bolsheviks at the time viewed Moscow’s policies in Ukraine as colonialist. The article demonstrates that it was the international situation and Ukrainian resistance that forced Lenin to adopt the notion of ethno-linguistic Ukrainian territories, which he acknowledged as a useful foreign policy tool. Rather than “creating” Ukraine, Lenin can instead be credited with the creation of a “Russian” Crimea, which a century later would serve as a launchpad for Russian aggression.