3: 1. Khmelnytsky and the Russian Imperial Project The discussion begins with the 1888 statue of Bohdan Khmelnytsky in Kyiv, symbolizing the 200-year quest to dominate Ukraine. Khmelnytsky, a 17th-century Orthodox nobleman, led a rebellion against the Polish

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John Batchelor

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🗓️ 20 October 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

1. Khmelnytsky and the Russian Imperial Project The discussion begins with the 1888 statue of Bohdan Khmelnytsky in Kyiv, symbolizing the 200-year quest to dominate Ukraine. Khmelnytsky, a 17th-century Orthodox nobleman, led a rebellion against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to protect the Orthodox Church and create a proto-Ukrainian state. Unable to win against Poland, he swore allegiance to the Tsar of Moscow, leading Russians to celebrate him as the unifier of Ukraine and Russia. Khmelnytsky intended a military alliance, but the Tsars viewed it as Ukraine fully joining Russia, gradually dismantling Cossack freedoms. By 1783, coinciding with the US Peace of Paris, Catherine the Great formalized Russia's imperial project, expanding to the Black Sea and integrating Crimea. Russia treated Ukraine as a colonial project, calling it "New Russia" and inviting diverse European settlers, seeking to force these people to become Russian, which Ukrainians resisted, forming the core of ongoing conflict.
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0:00.0	This is CBS Eye on the World.
0:08.5	Here's John Batchelor.
0:11.8	This is CBSI on the world.
0:14.1	I'm John Batchelor.
0:15.7	It is 1888 in Keefe.
0:19.0	A new statue is raised.
0:24.8	The statue is to a man named Kerminski, a hero, to the Ukrainians, to the Crimean Cossacks, to the Russians, even to the Soviets in the future.
0:34.8	Who is he? 17th century man and on the statue's plinth. And originally, because it was a product of
0:42.9	Russian nationalist, activist nationalist in Kiev. They wanted to write, oh, it will be better.
0:50.0	Oh, it will be more beautiful. When in our Ukraine, there are no Jews, no Poles, no Christians
0:57.8	from the West, Uniate Church. It goes on to say, a united, indivisible Russia to
1:05.3	Hetman Bodan Kaminsky. Professor Eugene Finkel is here.
1:11.5	His new book is Intent to Destroy, Russia's 200-year quest to dominate Ukraine.
1:17.9	That statue is a big clue as to what was happening in the 17th century, what is happening
1:24.7	in the 21st century.
1:26.7	Eugene Finkel is the Kenneth Keller Professor of International Affairs,
1:31.5	Johns Hopkins University of Advanced International Studies.
1:35.6	He joins us from Europe to comment on Kaminsky's statue.
1:41.3	Professor, the phrase is that they did not write, although they were approved by the
1:46.9	Tsar, I believe. They tell a story of woe. Who was he? Why was he important to everyone that they
1:54.4	raised a statue to him? Good evening to you. Good evening. Thanks for having me, John. So,
2:00.1	who Bogdan Hamlitsky is?
	...

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