President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Ukraine today as the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of the country approaches. A statement by the White House said he’s there to “reaffirm our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”
The idea that Ukraine is an independent nation with its own national identity is one that Russian President Vladimir Putin has openly disputed since long before the invasion, and he’s not alone and this is not a modern idea but one that dates far back into history. Our guest today strongly disputes this claim, and his recent books offer direct evidence of a decades-long effort by the Soviet Union and then Russian to stoke divisions among the Ukrainian diaspora and people around the world, and cast doubt on the very idea of an independent Ukraine.
Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at the Royal Military College of Canada, and author of more than thirty books, including his two most recent: “Operation Payback: Soviet Disinformation and Alleged Nazi War Criminals in North America: What We Didn’t Know Then, What We Know Now” and “Enemy Archives: Soviet Counterinsurgency Operations and the Ukrainian Nationalist Movement."
Professor Luciuk will be in southwest Florida later this week to give two presentations as part of Florida Gulf Coast University’s adult continuing education program “The FGCU Academy” titled "Soviet Disinformation and Alleged Nazi War Criminals in North America: What We Didn’t Know Then, What We Know Now." Click here for more information or to register. Information about his talk is on page 42.
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