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Abstract The present article aims to propose a theoretical framework capable of elucidating the intriguing resilience of the ideas shaping the attitudes of Russian ruling circles and intellectuals toward Ukraine. Offering a perspective that incorporates the latest findings on Russia’s “empire-nation dilemma” into the explanatory model, it delves into the historical context in which the Russian political and intellectual elite’s worldview and self-narratives were shaped – the period spanning from the 1830s to 1917. It reveals the intricate link between their sense of ontological (in-)security in relation to the West and the belief that assimilating Ukraine was pivotal for bolstering external power and ensuring internal stability within the Russian state.
Hanna Perekhoda (2024) studied this question.