russia’s repressive practices against Ukrainians mirror Soviet-era tactics

The repressive measures russia currently employs against Ukrainians—including persecution and unlawful detention—are part of a broader, systemic policy that traces back to Soviet-era practices.

This point was underscored by Vladyslav Havrylov, an analyst at the Media Initiative for Human Rights (MIHR) and author of a new report, during the presentation of the analytical study “The Destruction of Ukrainian Identity as a State Policy of the USSR and russia” at Media Center Ukraine.

“Throughout our research, we found clear evidence that both the Soviet Union in the past and the russian federation today have systematically targeted Ukrainians. russia singles them out as distinct groups, subjecting them to persecution precisely because they possess a strong Ukrainian identity and the potential to resist. The ultimate goal is to strip Ukrainians of their statehood and even their very right to exist. Both the USSR and the russian federation refuse to recognize Ukraine’s legitimacy as a sovereign entity—but they do have established methods to erase it. In other words, they refuse to recognize Ukrainians as a people, yet they employ deliberate strategies to destroy them. It’s a paradox, but it clearly illustrates that this is a deliberate, systemic policy,” Havrylov stated.

Havrylov went on to point out that, much like the Soviet regime once targeted Ukrainian government officials, intellectuals, and members of Ukrainian military units, modern russia is now persecuting anyone who might resist—from Ukrainian soldiers fighting russia’s military aggression to civilians detained for their resistance in occupied territories.

“You can trace this pattern all the way back to the very onset of Soviet rule, when Ukrainian government representatives were arrested and executed. During the Great Terror of 1937-1938, Ukrainian intellectuals and writers were executed in large numbers. Today, we are witnessing similarly tragic cases, like the fate of writer Volodymyr Vakulenko, who was tortured and killed in Izium. The same holds true for Ukrainian officials—Yevhen Matvieiev, the mayor of Dniprorudne, was also killed while in russian custody. Civilians, too, are targeted simply for expressing their opinions, just as dissidents were persecuted under the Soviet totalitarian regime for refusing to conform,” he explained.

According to Havrylov, the repressive methods used by modern-day russia differ little from those employed by the Soviet Union, with russian Federal Penitentiary Service officers and prison staff drawing directly from the same legacy of brutality and ideological enforcement.

The torture methods inflicted on Ukrainians today—including physical beatings, psychological pressure, and deliberate humiliation—are all techniques rooted in Soviet-era practices.

“Every prisoner of war who returns from russian captivity [ed.]—and we are deeply grateful to them for their service and sacrifice—speaks about this, recounting these experiences in detail. We’re seeing clear patterns of recurring crimes, which is why we’re documenting these accounts and believe it is critically important to share this information as widely as possible,” Havrylov concluded.

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news