The 12 people who ruined Ukraine

2015/5/29 13:53:20

Linda Kinstler, writing in Politico, draws up her list of those who have done most damage to Ukraine. The list makes for interesting reading although some chosen by Kinstler may come as a considerable surprise.


By Linda Kinstler for Politico, May 28, 2015:

 

When Russian President Vladimir Putin sat down to plot his invasion of Ukraine in February 2014, he didn’t have to start from scratch. Generations of Russian rulers have invaded Ukrainian lands to starve, deport and enslave the native populations, and Putin has drawn avidly from their playbooks. Ukraine’s oligarchs have been equally ruthless in despoiling the country, some even funding the very rebels who’d like to conquer it. Here’s a rundown of those who have done the most to devastate Ukraine.

 

[…]

Number two on Kinstler’s list: Catherine, the Great  (1729—1796)

 

Like Putin, Catherine the Great was willing to trade in her reputation as a European ruler for the sake of territorial conquest. She launched a series of campaigns to expand her empire into Ottoman territory, taking the Crimean peninsula in 1783 and establishing a Russian military presence on the Black Sea — without which Putin would have had a much more difficult time annexing Crimea last year. Much of present-day south and east Ukraine came under Russian rule as a result of Catherine’s Russo-Turkish wars, and her newly conquered territory became known as Novorossiya, New Russia, a term separatist rebels recently brought back into vogue in Donetsk and Luhansk. Catherine the Great resettled her new land with native Russians, imposing serfdom upon local Ukrainians.

 

For complete text of the article, link below:

http://www.politico.eu/article/the-di ... eople-who-ruined-ukraine/

 

Editor’s Note: Obviously, anyone who knows and cares about Ukraine might come up with a substantially different list from the one compiled by Kinstler. We encourage anyone who wants to comment on the list offered here – or provide your own list and justification to put your thoughts on paper. Send your contribution to:  Editor@ukrainebusiness.com.ua

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