Russian Colonialism - Soviet Era

Soviet Era

On the eve of independence, eight of Ukraine’s thirteen parties referred to the country as an exploited “colony” in their programs. After 1991 most Ukrainian historians described Ukrainians as victims of colonialism while literary scholars drew attention to the nation's “post-colonial” condition. Most Russian historians stressed that Ukrainians had also been agents of empire and characterized Ukraine's historical status as “semi-colonial.” Whereas academics disagree as to whether central policies were “Russian,” tsarist, or soviet and intentionally “anti-Ukrainian,” and whether the development that did occur was worth the cost, most Russians and a minority of the population in Ukraine regard the country's historical association with Russia favourably and deny that it was a colonial victim of Russian imperial power.