Russian dictator Vladimir Putin likes to fancy himself a scholar of both proto and modern Pan-Slavic history. In his twisted historiography, all things Slavic find their genesis in Moskva Rus. To him and his ilk like Alexandr Dugin, Kyvian Rus, the original springhead of Rus culture was inconsequential and the history of Prince Danylo Halytskyi never existed either. Such parsimony with historical truthfulness has been and remains the hallmark of the larger Ruskyi Mir project. It has also proven to be its “Achilles Heel” ever since they embarked on their imperial expansionism going back to the days of Peter The Great.
And that internal weakness has manifested itself time and time again with periodic cataclysmic convulsions and collapse of the empire … from the fall of the Czarist monarchy to fall of the Soviet Union. The now revanchist Putin Russia Federation, seeking to restore its former empire and possessions is likely headed in the same direction … with a lot of credit to the people of Ukraine and their national sense of resilience imbued by the yellow and sky blue vexillum bequeathed by Prince Danylo Halytskyi.
In the run up to the baleful events of February 24, 2022, Putin’s twisted historiography of the Ukrainian people, the so-called “Little Russians”, may have blinded him to the historical fact that over their long history, the Ukrainians have tenaciously fought for their culture and sense of peoplehood. The Russian “Achilles Heel” Strikes again !!
Many of us presume that the blue and gold flag of Ukraine represents a blue sky over the golden grain fields of Ukraine. That is a view even the government of Ukraine encourages given the country’s position as the putative “Bread basket” of Europe. But those colors have also been part of Ukrainian identity going well back into their history.
Maria Tril further illuminates the history of the Ukrainian national flag and what it means to the long-suffering people of that nation(definitely worth the read):
Ukraine’s Blue-Yellow Flag Marks 33 Years Of Independence Symbolism
Ukraine’s blue and yellow colors trace back to 1256 when Prince Danylo Halytskyi created Lviv’s coat of arms – beginning a 767-year journey through persecution, space missions, and wartime victories.
The earliest mentions of blue and yellow colors in official symbolism date to 1256, when Prince Danylo Halytskyi gifted Lviv[in Western Ukraine] a coat of arms featuring a yellow lion on a blue background.
www.lucorg.com/...
Tril also notes a quote from Ukrainian Chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi :
... describing the flag as “a symbol of freedom that Russia fears (emphasis mine)– a banner of people fighting for independence.” Syrskyi expressed confidence that Ukrainian forces would eventually raise the flag in currently occupied cities including Donetsk, Luhansk, Simferopol, Sevastopol, Mariupol, and Berdiansk.
Alexander J. Motyl, a professor of political science at Rutgers University-Newark expresses confidence that Ukraine like other peoples who have long struggled against imperial domination will emerge victorious because empires inevitably fall:
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The Inevitable Fall of Putin’s New Russian Empire
What history tells us about collapsed empires trying to restore their former possessions.
The Russian Federation is the product of the Soviet empire’s collapse, just as the Soviet Union was the product of imperial Russia’s collapse. Looking at the long history of empires, it’s not at all surprising that today’s Russia has embarked on a project of re-imperialization—the attempt to recreate as much of its former empire as it can. Equally unsurprisingly, Russia’s effort will fail.
The vast majority of seemingly stable empires decay over time until all that is left is the imperial center. The Byzantine and Ottoman empires are perfect examples of this dynamic: Each lost more and more territory until all that remained of the former was greater Constantinople and of the latter the lands that became Turkey. Neither rump state attempted to re-imperialize. The same was true of the European overseas colonial empires: The British withdrew from most of their possessions more or less voluntarily and without firing too many shots, whereas the Dutch, French, Portuguese, and Spanish tried harder to hang on but lost to national liberation movements. All subsequently refrained from re-imperialization.
foreignpolicy.com/...
It is this belief in their ability to hold on to their peoplehood in the course of their long 767 years of historical subjugation which actuates Ukrainian military officer and journalist Petro Shuklinov, after careful review and analysis of Putin and Russia’s war of aggression against his people, to say …
"Russia must be finished off."
“Russia must be finished off." Military Shuklinov calls on Ukraine to make a decisive leap
Ukrainian military officer and journalist Petro Shuklinov carefully analyzed the course of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and concluded that none of dictator Putin's goals — military or humanitarian — have been realized by the end of 2025(emphasis mine). In addition, the situation for the enemy has significantly worsened. This means that Ukraine has every chance of victory, despite attempts to convince it otherwise.
news.online.ua/…
Shuklinov goes on to enumerate and compare Russia's key pre-war "plans" with the "results" to date. And explains the reasons why:
*DENAZIFICATION
*NEUTRALITY OF UKRAINE
*THE [Complete] CAPTURE OF UKRAINE
*STATUS IN THE WORLD AND RECOGNITION OF OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
*RUSSIAN LANGUAGE AND RUSSIAN CHURCH
*THE MYTH OF RUSSIA'S INVINCIBILITY
He also argues that contrary to what may appear to be Russia’s maximalist demand, there’s a
*DEGRADATION OF RUSSIAN REQUIREMENTS
In each instance ADAPTIVE INDOMITABLE UKRAINE has in the course of nearly 4 years battled the self-described Number 2 Army of the World to a frazzle and ensured Failure on each score. The news today from the Kupiansky, Lymansky-Serebriansky, Huliapole and even the Pokrovsky directions are encouraging ...the Armed Forces of Ukraine are holding … in the face of unprecedented all out Russian onslaught. And thereby forcing Vladimir Putin to take to the air waves and media in recent days to create a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing. Ukraine must withdraw or else?. Withdraw from where exactly? It’s their country. They can’t withdraw from their own country, the land over which flies Danylo Halytskyi's colors.
SLAVA UKRAINI! PEREMOHA(Victory) !!
