Expert Says Putin Weaponizes 1,000-Year History to Justify Ukraine War

1 articles · Updated · Ukrinform · Jun 1

At a Hague security event, an expert said Vladimir Putin uses a 1,000-year historical narrative to deny Ukraine’s sovereignty and frame much of its territory as historically Russian.
He said the Kremlin tailors that message to Western audiences unfamiliar with Ukrainian history, making claims sound persuasive—as seen when Putin spent about 30 minutes laying out his version in an interview with Tucker Carlson.
The expert said Putin’s rhetoric shifted from stressing Russian-Ukrainian “closeness” to claiming they are “one people,” a line he has pushed especially since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.
He argued Europe must treat those narratives as part of hybrid warfare alongside military aggression, sabotage and influence operations, and said understanding Putin’s logic is essential to countering it effectively.
The remarks came during a two-day conference in The Hague focused on Europe’s security future and Ukraine, where Dutch leaders also backed moving quickly on EU accession talks.

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