How Russia and Ukraine’s duelling national narratives are stoking the threat of conflict

Russia’s actions towards Ukraine can be understood through the lens of history, with a legacy of foreign invasions informing Putin’s thinking

Ukraine has its own narrative, though, that highlights Russia’s aggression and rejection of Ukrainian sovereignty

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Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during his annual news conference in Moscow on December 23. Putin’s insistence that Ukraine stay in Russia’s sphere of influence is shaped by a history of foreign invasion and a rejection of Ukrainian sovereignty. Photo: AP

James V. Wertsch

James V. Wertsch is David R.

Published: 3:30am, 29 Dec 2021Updated: 4:53am, 29 Dec 2021

Nations live by their narratives. This comes through clearly when stories about the past are used to mobilise a nation in the present, something Russian President Vladimir Putin is doing as he ramps up tensions with Ukraine.

His dog-whistle comments about Ukrainian “fascists” and their “genocide” of ethnic Russians point to a shared story about World War II, or the “Great Patriotic War” as it is known in Russia. This, in turn, is part of a larger world view in which Russia is under constant threat from outside enemies.

Putin relied on this world view to justify Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008. He has used it many times in the ensuing years, and he is using it again today as he threatens Ukraine.

It’s based on stories of repeated invasions by external enemies that have coalesced into a general narrative template. Peaceful Russia is attacked by an aggressive enemy and is nearly destroyed, but through heroism and sacrifice it expels the existential threat and resume its place as a sovereign nation in control of its borders.