An introduction to the White-Red-White flag of Belarus, and the Belarusian politics of memory
This was the adopted flag of the Belarusian Democratic Republic (BNR) which declared its independence on March 25,…
Reminder to Russian MFA: Stalin repeatedly begged Churchill for second front & aid
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the landings at D-Day and the beginning of the Liberation of…
A survey of so-called “History Laws” in Ukraine and Poland. What are they, and what do they do?
On January 10 this year it was announced by The State Committee for State TV and Radio Broadcasting…
Addressing the great “Jewish Communist” conspiracy
This note is a response to a pervasive myth held by those who want to demonise Jews as…
Why the Holodomor is genocide under UN convention: On Anne Applebaum’s Red Famine
Between 1932–33, Stalin sought to wipe out the very concept of an independent Ukraine by targeting its peasantry…
Munich and the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact revisited, Part 3: The way to European catastrophe
Read the previous parts: 1) The interwar prelude 2) Hitler’s Anschluss In the West, much sympathy existed with Hitler…
Munich and the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact revisited, Part 2: Hitler’s Anschluss
Read the previous part: The interwar prelude If Stalin had an ambition for the conquest of Poland, so…
Munich and the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact revisited, Part 1: The interwar prelude
More than we think, Soviet propaganda has influenced the way in which many see World War II. This…
The history behind “Bitter Harvest,” dramatic movie about the Holodomor
Over the last year the Holodomor has garnered much needed additional publicity, in part due to the current…
Stalin’s genocidal Holodomor campaign of 1932-33. What we know vs the denialist lies
On 5 July 1933, a desperate appeal for food aid was sent to Stalin from within the Bashkir…
Understanding the Ukrainians in WWII Part 3. Of German plans and German collaborators.
On May 22 Volodymyr Katriuk, a Ukrainian World War II veteran and a suspected participant in the massacre…
Understanding the Ukrainians in WWII. Part 2. Stories of Ukrainians in the Red Army
On 19 September 1939, advanced units of the Soviet 6th army reached the outskirts of the city of…
Understanding the Ukrainians in WWII. Part 1
On April 11 1935, a document titled “Valuable Declarations” was published in translated form for the eyes of…
The dissemination of misinformation. A review of a Guardian Newspaper review of a bad book
One of the recurring themes of Soviet apologetics vis-à-vis contemporary Russian apologetics is the way the early part…
Crimea and the Crimean Tatars: Centuries of competing claims and forgotten history
On August 23, 1932, a secret circular for the economic division of the secret police (OGPU) of the…
Fascism exploited and distorted in Putin’s Russia for propaganda’s sake
For most of the 20th century, the Russians lived under the iron grip of an authoritarian Marxist-Leninist form…
Stalin’s Caucasus crimes Putin wants you to forget
Exploring the Caucasus is akin to exploring a mini-continent with its many diverse ethnic groups and cultures all…
Stalin’s Holodomor in Kazakhstan, or a very brief guide to “The Goloshchekin genocide”
In 1876, in the Russian town of Nevel, a little Bolshevik figure by the name of Philip Isaevich…
On Holodomor denial, and fisking a denialist Russian professor of History
Soviet propaganda continues to shape the beliefs of Russians about the Russian and Soviet past and continues to…