THE LEGACY OF KYIVAN RUS AND APORIAS OF RUSSIAN IDENTITY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR Cover Image

DZIEDZICTWO RUSI KIJOWSKIEJ I APORIE IDEOLOGII ROSYJSKIEJ W KONTEKŚCIE WOJNY ROSYJSKO-UKRAIŃSKIEJ
THE LEGACY OF KYIVAN RUS AND APORIAS OF RUSSIAN IDENTITY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR

Author(s): Jarosław Syrnyk
Subject(s): Studies in violence and power, Geopolitics, Politics and Identity, Peace and Conflict Studies, Russian Aggression against Ukraine
Published by: Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN
Keywords: Russian-Ukrainian war; Ukraine; Russia; national identity; geopolitics; power; russkij mir; Putin; Dugin; Solzhenitsyn;

Summary/Abstract: The article tackles the specific context of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war: its potential connection with the rivalry for the legacy of Kyivan Rus. The predominant thesis in this paper is that this conflict has also revealed significant aporias in contemporary Russian national identity. Through the metaphorical establishing of Russianness on the Kyiv foundation, and in the absence of a working alternative, the Russian idea found itself trapped: unable to exist without Ukraine, it may cease to exist at all, or may have to transform into a completely new form. The background for the thoughts presented comprises a general historical outline concerning, above all, the period after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Analytically, the paper refers to several selected texts and comments by important Russian ideologues, from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Aleksandr Dugin to Vladimir Putin.

  • Issue Year: 67/2023
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 203-223
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: Polish