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Assignment: Decolonising Russia

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A monument to Russian poet Alexander Pushkin in Kyiv, defaced with the words "Don’t Stop Decolonisation."

18/06/2024 GMT

Decolonising Russia

BBC World Service - Assignment, Decolonising Russia

Is Russia Europe's last colonial power? What would "decolonising" Russia mean?

Is Russia Europe's last empire? Is its invasion of Ukraine a “colonial war”? Calls to "decolonise" Russia are growing - but what would that mean?

Is Russia Europe’s last empire? Is its invasion of Ukraine a “colonial war”? Is “decolonising” the country the only way of ensuring it stops being a threat to its neighbours and world peace?

Since last year, “decolonising Russia” has become a buzz-phrase in Ukraine and other former members of the soviet union, among many Western strategists and politicians, Russian studies experts – and Russia’s own liberal opposition and ethnic minorities.

And that’s triggered a vigorous debate about whether the term “decolonisation” is really relevant to Russia – and what it means. Is it about challenging the “imperial mindset” of its rulers – and perhaps of every ordinary Russian? Or perhaps it means dismembering the country itself?

In “Assignment: Decolonising Russia” Tim Whewell dissects a new and vital controversy with the help of historians, policy makers and activists in the former Soviet Union, the West and the Global South.

Producer and presenter: Tim Whewell
Production Coordinators: Maria Ogundele, Sabine Schereck and Gemma Ashman
Sound Engineer: Hal Haines
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

(Image: A monument to Russian poet Alexander Pushkin in Kyiv, defaced with the words "Don’t Stop Decolonisation." Credit: Oleksii Chumachenko/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

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