RUSSIAN EXPANSION AND THE UKRAINIAN STATEHOOD: HISTORICAL REALITIES OF THE 17th – 21th CENTURIES
Authors:   Cherkasy Institute of Fire Safety named after Chornobyl Heroes of  National University of Civil Defence of Ukraine,  Cherkasy, Ukraine, Chubina Tetіana , Fedorenko Yanina ,   Cherkasy Institute of Fire Safety named after Chornobyl Heroes of  National University of Civil Defence of Ukraine
Published: November 2023

In the article the process of expansion by russia is analyzed, which, through the prism of the absolutist paradigm, for 400 years directed its efforts not only to the annexation of the territory of Ukraine, but also to the destruction of Ukrainian statehood and the Ukrainian nation. The purpose of article – analysis of political, economic, spiritual and cultural factors that illustrate the process of the implementation of russian expansion aimed at the destruction of Ukrainian statehood and the Ukrainian nation during the 17th – 21st centuries Scientific novelty – the implementation of Russia’s expansionist policy on the territory of Ukraine, starting from 1654 and up to the present time, is comprehensively investigated. The periodization of russian expansion during the 17th – 21th centuries is suggested. Conclusions. Taking into account the specifics of the chosen topic, we have highlighted five chronological periods during which russia pursued an expansionist policy with the aim of destroying Ukrainian statehood. The first period (17th –18th centuries) covers the stage of the initial phase of russian expansion, starting with the Pereyaslav Council, when all the top leadership of the Ukrainian Cossack state, led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky, swore allegiance to the moscow tsar, and to the aggressive policy of Peter I and his successors, as a result of which at the end of the 18th century 80% of Ukrainian lands were part of the russian empire. The second period (the 19th – the early 20th century) – was a time when the russian authorities directed their efforts to maintain the previously captured territories of Ukraine and tried to implement the «Novorossiia» project in the south of the country without much success. The third period (1922 – 1991) covers the history of Ukraine as part of the Soviet Union, the main characteristics of which were the complete occupation of the territory of Ukraine and the policy of persuasion of the population using such methods as repression, famine, deportation, total russification, destruction of national self-identification, etc. The fourth period (1991 – 2013) – the historical period that began with the declaration of Ukraine’s independence and was marked by difficult russian-Ukrainian relations, as a result of which the russian federation, seeking revenge, tried to politically, economically, and culturally weaken our country, at the same time compromising it in the eyes of its Western partners. The fifth period (2014 – nowadays) – the period of the russian-Ukrainian war, during which the aggressor is trying to conquer the territory of Ukraine, deprive it of its independence, and the Ukrainian people – to win back the lost territories and become a full-fledged player in the global world system. Thus, having studied the russian expansion during the 17th – 21st centuries, we can draw conclusions that during all the five periods we have highlighted or the last 400 years of the history of Ukraine, the policy of the north-eastern neighbor was aimed at the annexation of Ukrainian territories and the destruction of statehood. To achieve the goal set for himself, the aggressor used the entire set of military, political, cultural, and spiritual factors.