Events in Belgorod region will trigger processes that will allow local residents to remember their roots - doctor of Historical Sciences

He shared the information on Espreso TV.

"The Belgorod region has long belonged to the territory of the medieval Ukrainian state of Rus and was lost during the Mongol invasion. In the 17th century, recolonization began on the part of Ukraine, and another colonization machine of the Moscow state was pushing in from the north. And in the 30s of the 17th century, Muscovy built the so-called Belgorod census line. It would seem that this land is Russian, but this defense line, like all the others, was mostly built by Ukrainian hands," said the doctor of historical sciences.

Viktor Brekhunenko explained that Russia did not have enough free population to attract people to colonize the region and build fortresses. Accordingly, Ukrainians and Ukrainian immigrants were actively involved.

"The final chord in the fact that the Belgorod region acquired a Ukrainian face was the creation of Sloboda Ukraine in the second half of the 17th century. At that time, most of the Belgorod region became part of the Sloboda regiments. By the way, the Russians never hid this. In the 19th century, travelers identified most of the Belgorod region with Ukrainian lands, and they drew the ethnic border between Ukrainian and Russian territories 15 miles from Kursk. It is clear that there were enclaves of the Russian population there. The enmity between the Ukrainian and Russian populations was extremely powerful, and even Muscovy itself tried to drive Ukrainians and Russians to different sides because they did not get along there. And what is happening now in the Belgorod region, it seems to me, is a situation that has long been ripe and will launch processes that will allow a significant part of the residents of the Belgorod region to remember who they are and whose children their parents are," Brekhunenko emphasized.

The professor added that the same is true in modern Russia’s Voronezh region up to the upper Don River, which is a Ukrainian territory that has been settled since 1651. That is, the first immigrants from Ukraine who were drawn to Slobozhanshchyna went east to the territories that are now part of the Russian Federation.

• On May 22, the Freedom of Russia Legion announced that it was creating a demilitarized zone on the border with Russia.

• Also, a new report by the Institute for the Study of War noted that Russia is experiencing information shocks due to the events in the Belgorod region.