#RussianColonialism perfected genocide and ethnic cleansing even before the terms were invented.
anyone interested should learn about the 1708 russian invasion of Baturyn, the capital of Ukraine's first democratic proto-republic
after Ukraine's tried and failed to break free from #RussianColonialism by siding with Sweden in the Great Northern War, moscow decided to punish Ukrainians with a carefully orchestrated Baturyn massacre — one of the most horrific mass slaughters in Europe's history
by 1708 Baturyn was a thriving Ukrainian capital, a cultural, intellectual, and political center with a population of up to 15,000 — making it even slightly bigger than Kyiv at the time. genocidal #RussianColonialism is the reason why you probably never heard about the city
on November 2nd, 1708 russian colonial troops approached Baturyn's city fortress. russians suggested Ukrainians surrender but received a traditional Ukrainian answer that wasn't much different from modern-day 'russian warship go f*ck itself.'
however, outnumbered by russian troops and demoralized by the defeat of the Ukrainian-Swedish alliance, some Ukrainians deserted and shared with the colonizers a secret passage to the fortress. russians did not face Ukrainians on a battlefield and hit them in the backs
russian colonial troops eliminated Ukrainian soldiers in less than two hours but did not stop there. they decided to make a performative execution of each and every city's resident and leave scorched earth instead of Baturyn euromaidanpress.com/2021/11/20/bat…
this 2015 painting by Ukrainian artist Yuriy Nahulko is devoted to the Baturyn mass slaughter. russians mass raped the city's women and then cut them to pieces. they did the same to the elderly and kids, chopping even the newly-born
russian colonial general Menshikov encouraged his soldiers to be creative in their executions: just killing the civilians wasn't enough. they deployed so-called execution wheels for the agonizing mutilation and torture of Ukrainians
according to well-preserved witness accounts and investigations by 18th and 19th-century historians, russians also cut off the heads of Ukrainian leaders. they sent them as souvenirs to their military and imperial command
This is a 1995 painting by the Ukrainian artist Mykola Danchenko titled 'Baturyn apples', depicting russian colonial general and mass murderer Mehshikov during his rampage in Baturyn
this is a 1990 linocut by Ukrainian artist Vasyl Lopata commemorating the civilian victims of the Baturyn massacre - it portrays russian emperors standing on the bodies of slaughtered Baturyn women and kids
Swedish historian Anders Fryxell claimed that russian general Menshikov ordered to crucify the corpses of the Baturyn defenders, put them on rafts, and let them down the Seim river so the rest of Ukraine would see the consequences of resisting russia
this is a painting by a Ukrainian mid-20th-century artist Andriy Mordovets reimagining the horror of the crucified bodies of the Baturyn defenders floating down the river
this is a 2000 painting by Ukrainian artist Andriy Ivakhnenko reconstructing the Baturyn mass murder. According to French historian Jean-Benoit Scherer russians looted the city, and what they couldn't steal they set on fire. Baturyn ceased to exist mazepa.name/cms/wp-content…
despite the explicit russian ban on restoring the city, unbreakable Ukrainians eventually rebuilt Baturyn. but it remains a shadow of its former self. for several generations, it wasn't even classified as a town. before the ongoing genocide, barely 2,500 lived there
the last 25 years Ukrainian archaeologists spent uncovering mass graves of Ukrainians slaughtered by russian colonial troops in Baturyn. three centuries later, still an incredibly traumatic experience for many of them - digging out mutilated bones of kids and women
in 2008 Ukraine rebuilt a section of the Baturyn fortress and made it part of the museum. It celebrates the former glory of what once was a Ukrainian capital. It also honors the multi-century struggle of Ukrainians for freedom and against tyranny
the same year Ukraine installed this memorial in Baturyn to honor the memory of thousands slaughtered by russian colonial troops and the entire Ukrainian capital being leveled to the ground. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko compared the events to the Holodomor genocide
many European armies engaged in atrocities at the time. still, the Baturyn massacre sent shockwaves. European newspapers reported on it with headlines "a terrible massacre," "all of Ukraine is in blood," "Women and children on the points of sabers" mazepa.name/biograph/mazep…
but the most horrific thing is that russia keeps committing these 18-century style mass murders in 21st century: no-hostage, scorched-earth terrorism with rape, torture, and slaughter of civilians, including little Ukrainian kids
in 2022 Baturyn was again occupied by russian colonial troops. the Chernihiv oblast, where the city is situated, once again witnessed an unimaginable scale of terror — echoing the horror of the Baturyn massacre time.com/6255183/ukrain…
the staff of the Baturyn memorial risked their lives to hide & protect the historical artifacts of russian crimes from the invaders - it took decades to uncover the mass murder evidence. they wouldn't allow russians to erase this history once again golos.com.ua/article/365203
This is Nataliya Rebrova, director of the Baturyn memorial - she worked through several weeks of russian occupation and didn't leave the museum for a single day
and this is her colleague, a Ukrainian historian & archeologist Dr. Yuriy Kovalenko. started working at the museum in 1999 & since 2005 he was part of the team leading archaeological excavations at the site of the Baturyn slaughter. Dr. Kovalenko authored 70+ academic papers
Dr. Kovalenko had to put his research of russian colonial crimes on pause and enlisted to defend Ukraine from another russian invasion. he was killed by enemy fire on the frontline earlier this year.
Even 300 years later, Baturyn keeps losing its finest to #RussianColonialism
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the entire western industry of explaining russia has been a sham. for decades it cultivated the image of russia as this mysterious, chaotic and complex power, impossible to predict or explain it in simple terms and without the help of limited number of brilliant minds
the power where every decision is a byproduct of complex minds of russian rulers, sinister but brilliant. hence 99% of this Western expertise would happen at micro-level psychoanalysing individuals but remaining totally blind to more complex phenomena of russian abusive culture
the only industry where by merit of speaking the imperial language and visiting the metropole at least once you can automatically claim to be also an expert on hundreds of nations russia is or used to colonize
art is the best shortcut for understanding russian colonial nature. would you like me to share some cool Ukrainian movies with English subtitles that will enlighten you about colonialism? you’re in luck
🪆🪓
my absolute fav is Chornobyl 22 by Oleksiy Radynskyi, the brightest anti-colonial thinker in Ukraine. this doc is about russian failed occupation of a Ukrainian nuclear station in 2022. eco-terrorism has always been a fixture of russian colonial behavior takflix.com/en/films/chorn…
Eurodonbas by Kornii Hrytsiuk is a Ukrainian blockbuster of wartime docs, demolishing one of russia’s central imperial myths - that they ‘built’ eastern Ukraine. most of the featured cities don’t exist anymore, they were erased by russia takflix.com/en/films/eurod…
together with thousands of other Ukrainian Roma, Oleksiy Tyrpak heroically fought to defend his home and Europe from fascism. young, brave and fearless, russian murderers stole his from us, too. he would turn 25 earlier this month
earlier into the full-scale invasion, Oleksiy got seriously injured defending Ukraine and could retire from the army. despite persuasions from the family, he decided to return to the frontline after the recovery: “I simply can’t leave my battalion behind,” he told his loved ones
“he would never leave anyone behind”
entire Oleksiy’s village Tur’ya Pasika in Zakarpattia oblast showed up to mourn him. kindness and Ukrainianness of this hero transcended ethnicity, skin color or social status. russia has no right to exist
@suspilne_news
this Ukrainian woman risked everything to walk out of russian occupation in southern Ukraine — russians often execute running refugees. the moment when she shows her Ukrainian passport indicating she just wants to get home broke my heart in million pieces
@vgorunews
Ukrainian soldiers also risked everything to evacuate her from a destroyed bridge at the frontline. your daily reminder that Ukraine stands for kindness and never leaves anyone behind
today we mark the Roma Resistance Day. the history of Ukrainian Roma fighting back against the colonial invaders, whether in 1945 or 2024, is integral to this story. however, it is also one of the least known.
my latest essay for russian colonialism 101. the newsletter
The Ukrainian resistance against fascism and colonialism, both its Western and russian forms, dates back generations. Romani-Ukrainians are integral part of this history
Misha Biketov was a young artist writing electronic music for my favorite Ukrainian label @dnipropop. then russia came to his home and instead of art, he had to defend his family from genocide. Misha became a great drone operator instead. but russians still took him away from us
Misha was just 24.
His label and frontline unit are fundraising to support his family in these trying times.