How did Soviet rule shape Ukraine and why does that history still matter today?

Soviet rule reshaped Ukraine’s borders, institutions and everyday life.

It also brought famine, mass repression and sustained attacks on Ukrainian language and culture. Across these decades, Ukrainians continued to create, defend their rights and challenge the limits imposed on them.

On 5 November, join us for “Ukraine in the ‘Soviet Century’”, examining this history and its legacies.

Joining us as speakers:

•  Dr. Olena Palko — historian and Assistant Professor of East European History at the University of Basel. She is the author of "Making Ukraine Soviet: Literature and Cultural Politics under Lenin and Stalin" (2021), an award-winning study of the political and cultural processes that shaped Soviet Ukraine.

• Dr. Andriy Zayarnyuk — historian and Professor of History at the University of Winnipeg. He is the author of "Lviv’s Uncertain Destination" (2020) and "Framing the Ukrainian Peasantry in Habsburg Galicia" (2013), with research spanning Ukrainian history, nationalism, empire and identity.

The conversation will be joined by Dr. Vera Skvirskaja, Associate Professor at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies at the University of Copenhagen, as discussant.

The panel will explore the relationship between Soviet power and Ukrainian identity, the experiences of different communities, and the forms of cultural and political resistance that developed under Soviet rule.

Understanding these histories also helps us recognise what is invoked, contested or obscured when the Soviet past enters public debate today.

This panel discussion is the third event in our series, Ukraine’s European History — a series exploring Ukraine’s place in the wider history of Europe.

• 5 November | 15:00–17:00

• University of Copenhagen, Udvalgsværelse 3, Nørregade 10, 1165 Copenhagen K

•  Register via the link: https://tr.ee/V20ZFC

Co-organised by Ukraine House in Denmark, CEMES, HUM and UCPH Geopolitics at the University of Copenhagen.