Even a Ukraine within Borders of Russia and Under Moscow’s Full Control would be a Threat to Russia, Kolerov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Jan. 18 – Ukraine will remain an existential threat to Russia even if it is absorbed within the borders of the Russian Federation and exists there as a recognized entity albeit under the complete control of Moscow, according to Russian nationalist commentator Modest Kolerov.

            “Any Ukraine will always be a threat for Russia,” he argued, “even if all of Ukraine will be within Russia,” an observation that suggests those who think Moscow might restore some kind of “union republic” status for a Ukraine within Russian borders are deceiving no one but themselves (iarex.ru/news/88972.html).

            But Kolerov’s remark is important for two other reasons as well. On the one hand, it is a clear signal that those on the right in the Russian capital are so convinced that the USSR would not have fallen apart had Lenin not created union republics that they are not going to be willing to recognize any former Soviet republic as a distinct entity even if it falls within Russian borders.

            And on the other, it is an implicit recognition of something Kolerov would certainly deny but that is nonetheless very much the case: Ukrainians are sufficiently different from Russians that they would constitute a serious problem for Moscow even if the Ukraine of today were absorbed into a Russian Empire and subjected to central control.