Why Russia Never Accepted Ukraine's Independence | Ukraine This

Why has Russia never accepted Ukraine’s independence? In this episode of Ukraine This Week, Anna Belokur examines 35 years of Ukrainian independence and the centuries of Russian attempts to control, suppress, and ultimately deny Ukraine’s sovereignty.

From the collapse of the Soviet Union and Ukraine’s 1991 independence referendum to the Orange Revolution, EuroMaidan Revolution, and Russia’s full-scale invasion, the episode explores how Ukrainian resistance has rejected Moscow’s vision of a shared Russian-Ukrainian identity.

Featuring historian Serhii Plokhy and Oleksandr Donii, a participant of Ukraine’s 1991 independence movement, Anna examines why Russia continues to reject Ukraine’s right to exist as a sovereign state — and why Ukrainians continue to fight for it.