Replaying the Second World War : Soviet Parallels and Inspirations for Russian Atrocities in the Russo-Ukrainian War, 2014–25

Oleksa Drachewych argues that Russia’s instrumentalization of its memory of WWII has played a significant role in leading Russian forces to commit similar atrocities in its war against Ukraine. This connection between Soviet actions during and after the Second World War and Russian actions in its escalation against Ukraine plays out in many ways. Parallels exist in the atrocities and war crimes committed during each war, such as in the perceived motivations of perpetrators and the potential consequences of these acts. Implicit inspirations exist where the Russian government likely draws on the Soviet past through policies undertaken by Soviet predecessors. Finally, explicit cases are evident where the Russian government has directly referenced Soviet actions during and after the Second World War, connecting them to its actions against Ukraine. To make his argument, Drachewych explores a variety of categories: the rhetoric of denazification and related propaganda, sexual violence, mass murder and torture, the forcible deportation of people and theft of goods, and the weaponization of food. Russia’s instrumentalization of the history of the Second World War is more than propaganda, leading to violent consequences. The history takes on new meaning in Ukrainian memory politics as Ukrainians reinterpret these events, too. Intersecting history, political science, memory studies, and genocide studies, Replaying the Second World War details the many possible connections, while also highlighting limitations, in comparing the Soviet past to the Russian present, in order to provide answers as to why Russian forces have committed extensive atrocities against Ukrainians and why the Russian government has instituted some of the policies that it has during this war.