THE MYTHOLOGY OF HISTORY AS A TOOL OF HOSTILE PROPAGANDA IN THE CONDITIONS OF THE RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR

The purpose of the article is to highlight the main stages of the formation of the Russian mythologizing of its own and Ukrainian history and the use of constructed myths in its propaganda during the previous period and in the conditions of armed aggression and full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Research methodology. In the process of preparing this publication, we used a number of interrelated methodological principles, approaches and methods. In particular, cultural and systemic approaches. As well as methods of analysis and synthesis to reveal the content of a number of key concepts. The scientific novelty lies in the structural consideration of the formation of Russian historical myths and the actual process of mythologizing Russian and Ukrainian history. The historical section of the Russian «kidnapping» of Ukrainian history, its substitution and the actual denial of the very concepts of «Ukrainian nation» and «Ukrainian history» is revealed, which directly resulted in full-scale military aggression against our Motherland. Conclusions. Mythologizing history is one of the key tools of Russian propaganda in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Its essence lies not only in the falsification of individual historical facts, but also in the creation of a holistic pseudo-historical picture designed to legitimize Russia's imperial claims to Ukrainian lands, deny the independence of the Ukrainian nation, and question Ukraine’s right to its own statehood. The Russian historical myth, formed in the imperial period and partially transformed in Soviet historiography, is based on the idea of «common origin»», «a single peoplе», «historical unity», and the alleged natural belonging of Ukraine to the Russian political and cultural space. In modern conditions, these mythologemes have acquired a distinctly aggressive and mobilizational character. They are used not only to influence the mass consciousness of Russian society, but also to ideologically justify the annexation of Crimea, the war in Donbas, the full-scale invasion of 2022, and the attempt to destroy Ukrainian statehood. Particularly dangerous is the substitution of historical reality with propaganda constructions, in which Ukraine appears not as a subject of its own history, but as an artificial entity created by external forces or the Soviet government.