1. Investigate the Source (Stop)
This claim was posted on Bluesky by a user named 'birdman' during a heated political debate. The user's intent appears to be justifying the Russian invasion by framing it as a historical reclamation, rather than an act of aggression.
2. Historical Context (Find & Trace)
While it is true that Eastern Ukraine has had long periods of Russian influence, the claim that it was "Russia forever" is a gross oversimplification and historically inaccurate.
Diverse Rulers: According to National Geographic and Professor Serhii Plokhii (Harvard University), Ukraine has been carved up by various powers for 1,000 years, including the Mongol Empire, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The "Left Bank" (East) came under Russian control in the 17th century, but the "Right Bank" (West) was ruled by Poland for centuries.
The Soviet Era and Forced Influence: The Hankyoreh (South Korean news) and Professor Timothy Snyder (Yale University) highlight that the "pro-Russian" sentiment in the East is partly a result of tragic 20th-century events. Stalin's Holodomor (a man-made famine) killed millions of Ukrainians in the 1930s, and the Soviet government subsequently moved large numbers of ethnic Russians into the depopulated eastern regions to "repopulate" the area. This was a deliberate demographic shift, not an "eternal" state of being.
Sovereignty and Agreements: After the 1991 independence, Russia itself recognized Ukraine's borders (including Crimea and Donbas) through the 1994 Budapest Memorandum and the 1997 Friendship Treaty.
3. Conclusion
The claim ignores the existence of a distinct Ukrainian identity that predates the Soviet Union and overlooks the fact that current "pro-Russian" demographics were often shaped by forced displacement and colonization. Framing the region as "Russia forever" is a narrative used to undermine Ukraine's recognized sovereignty.
4. Source
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/russia-and-ukraine-the-tangled-history-that-connects-and-divides-them
https://h21.hani.co.kr/arti/world/world/51689.html
