S8 Ep817: The Soviet Era, Crimea's Transfer, and Putin's Formative Myths The 1950s and 60s represented a "Golden Period" for the Soviet state, during which Nikita Khrushchev transferred Crimea to Ukraine for economic convenience. This era deeply influenced a young
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 3 May 2026
⏱️ 9 minutes
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Summary
The 1950s and 60s represented a "Golden Period" for the Soviet state, during which Nikita Khrushchev transferred Crimea to Ukraine for economic convenience. This era deeply influenced a young Vladimir Putin, who viewed Ukraine not as a separate entity, but as a romanticized extension of Russia—a place for summer vacations and vital industrial output, such as missiles. Finkel notes that this perspective takes Russian dominance for granted, ignoring the history of forced "Russification" and the Holodomor. Meanwhile, American leaders like Bill Clinton and Herbert Hoover are criticized for historically misreading these Russian imperial intentions. Guest: Professor Eugene Finkel. (4/8)
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| 0:00.0 | I'm John Batchew with Professor Eugene Finkel. |
| 0:07.4 | His book is Intent to Destroy, Russia's 200-year quest to dominate Ukraine. |
| 0:12.3 | This book will very much help those making decisions about the Ukraine war now. |
| 0:17.5 | It would have helped if Bill Clinton had read this book in 1994 before he obliged Ukraine to give away its nuclear weapons, before they were certain that Russia wasn't a revengeous power, as we know it to be. |
| 0:31.4 | At the same time, I don't mean to delve into irony too much, but oft times, professor, I come up against the Americans in the telling. |
| 0:38.6 | First time, John Quincy Adams is the ambassador to the court of Catherine Negrae. |
| 0:44.4 | Doesn't understand it, but spend some time there, and he's a very smart man. |
| 0:47.8 | The second time is when Herbert Hoover's need to feed people in Europe also feeds the Soviets. |
| 0:55.5 | Otherwise, they would have starved out of existence during the period between 17 and 21. |
| 1:02.2 | The third time is important to me. |
| 1:03.8 | Walter Durante lying about the Holodomor. |
| 1:08.5 | So Americans have been involved in several centuries of the tragedy of Ukraine. |
| 1:13.3 | I want to race to Khrushchev. He's not Ukrainian, but he's from the Kursk region. So is Brezhnev. |
| 1:20.7 | Does that influence his decision-making about Ukraine? |
| 1:24.1 | Well, so you're right. Prushev was in what is now Russia just across the border from Ukraine, but he actually |
| 1:32.5 | grew up in Ukraine. |
| 1:33.5 | And until he became, or before he became, the Secretary General, most of his career was in |
| 1:40.7 | Ukraine. |
| 1:41.1 | He was the party boss in Ukraine in 1930s, then after World War II. So he's |
| 1:48.5 | definitely part of the Ukrainian Communist Party apparatus and their networks. And once he become |
| 1:57.6 | the Secretary General of the Communist Party and the leader of the Soviet Union, |
| 2:03.0 | that shows you how important Ukraine was for Moscow, that someone who spent most of his career |
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