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We’re now almost into the fifth month of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and one of the consistent features of Russia’s associated information war is its continuing efforts to defame and demonize Ukrainian diasporas around the world.
The term “diaspora” refers to groups of people that left their original homeland, but retain their sense belonging to it and feel an obligation to provide support for it.
Russia, and before that the Soviet Union, has always had a hostile attitude toward the Ukrainian diaspora.
Where is the Ukrainian diaspora?
Ukraine has the eighth largest diaspora in the world.
War, famine, political oppression and economic challenges in contemporary Ukraine have historically played roles in forcing Ukrainians to move abroad.
With the long history of control first by the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union, Russia hosts the largest population of Ukrainians. However, those Ukrainians have generally been forcefully assimilated and do not constitute established political communities who outwardly support Ukraine.
Those Ukrainians who have not been assimilated, who support Ukraine or do not buy into Russian narratives about the war have wisely decided to keep their heads down to avoid Russian security services paying a visit.
But in western countries like the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, multi-generational Ukrainian diasporas have prospered and become politically mobilized. So why does Russia target them?
Anti-Communist
In the post-Second World War era, the Ukrainian diaspora — along with others from eastern Europe — were historically anti-Communist and anti-Soviet, championing national independence. They also helped preserve and generate many elements of national identity and narratives.
They were constant thorns in the side of the Soviets. Russia’s current attacks draw on an old Soviet strategy to portray both Ukraine and its diaspora as “neo-Nazis.”
This Russian neo-Nazi narrative is rooted in the memory politics of the Second World War in Ukraine, the early alliances that the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) made with Nazi Germany and the OUN’s contested links to anti-Semitism.
Read more: https://theconversation.com/why-russia-demonizes-ukrainian-diasporas-182372