Rory Finnin, Professor of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Cambridge, has won the Laura Shannon Literary Prize in 2024 for his book Blood of Others: Stalin’s Crimean Atrocity and the Poetics of Solidarity. Here are some quotes from Professor Finnin’s interview to Radio Liberty. https://cutt.ly/MeLCbla6
By the way, this year, this world’s leading scholar of Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula in particular took part in the Fourth Summit of the International Crimea Platform in Kyiv.
“It is here [in Crimea] that the Kremlin seeks to embody an idealized image of ‘native Russian’ rule. The authorities are trying to hide the violence and uncertainty inherent in this rule among literature museums and rocky beaches. Unfortunately, this image has seduced many scholars and experts in the West, especially in the field of political science and international relations. But this is, of course, a fabricated and carefully maintained illusion. The historical record is all too clear: the experience of Soviet and Russian rule in Crimea was a series of repeated ethnic cleansing, colonization, and trauma.”
“In 2014, the Russian Federation became not only the first European country since World War II to seize the territory of another European country by force, but also the first modern empire to reclaim a former colony after decades of independence. We have been too slow to realize this fact.”
“Stalin’s atrocities in Crimea eventually claimed tens of thousands of lives. What did the government do with Crimea next? They watched the demographic, cultural, and economic decline of the peninsula and tried to compensate by settling tens of thousands of people from neighboring regions of Russia and Ukraine. The authorities explained their actions by saying that they were turning Crimea into a land with a new, Russian way of life. Pay attention to these words: the authorities realized that Crimea was not Russian, so it had to be made Russian. And now look at Mariupol today… We are witnessing the consequences of our collective failure to confront the crimes of Russian and Soviet imperialism, which are the common denominator of both Stalinism and Putinism.”
“By expressing a consistent approval of the “special military operation” the vast majority of Russians today actively or passively support Stalin’s practices of mass murder, deportation, and genocide in Ukraine. In this sense, Stalin is not just not dead – he is quite alive in broad swaths of contemporary Russian society.”
“Crimea has no natural physical connection with Russia. It is a symbiotic extension of mainland Ukraine. For centuries, it has depended on resource flows from what is now Ukraine. We underestimate this connection. That’s why on the very first day of the full-scale invasion, Putin’s troops seized control of the [left-bank] Kherson region, a critical source of water and other resources. This move was an implicit recognition of a fundamental reality: Crimea needs to be connected to mainland Ukraine to thrive or even survive.”
“One of my nightmares is of a group of Western students walking along the beach of Mariupol 20 years later and claiming that it is “historically Russian land.” At the same time, they ignore the horrific experience of thousands of Ukrainian families who were killed or expelled from their homes after February 2022. This is how many generations of scholars have perceived Crimea.”
“Crimean Tatars eventually achieved the right to return to their homeland in the late Soviet period. In other words, solidarity worked. Poems, stories, and small acts of friendly support changed lives for the better. This should be an inspiring example for us. Our ability to act in solidarity with others has an undeniable power, even if this help is modest. Sending donations, learning the Ukrainian language and culture, writing letters to Ukrainians held captive in Russian prisons – all these steps can play a role in defending Ukraine.”
“Russia has made it clear that it is not interested in a settlement, but in the conquest and subjugation of all of Ukraine. When “tired” Western leaders pressure Kyiv to give up Crimea, they are also implicitly pressuring Kyiv to give up the security of the entire southern mainland, and then other regions. The concession of Crimea will entail a series of catastrophic consequences that will unfold like a domino effect and lead to even more aggressive annexations. Where will it stop?”