'Contradicts imperial model': political analyst on Putin’s hatred of Ukraine

 He shared his opinion in the World and Us project.

"Ukraine, by the very fact of its existence, destroys the worldview that Putin promotes, in which he lives and through which he maintains control over a significant part of northern Eurasia, over the Russian Federation, and several other neighboring states. Therefore, Ukraine, with its national identity, as a nation-state, denies the empire format, the format of existence of the political entity or political formation that Vladimir Putin leads and personifies. That is why, essentially, he perceives Ukraine and Ukrainians as personal enemies," said the analyst.

At the same time, Volodymyr Horbach noted that, in the eyes of Russians, Ukraine is an anti-Russia.

"And I am very, by the way, surprised why this has gone so deep among Russian citizens and politicians. Because they have long been, even before the 2014 invasion of Ukraine, spreading the thesis that Ukraine is anti-Russia. Because if Ukraine is not Russia in their binary thinking, then it is not just not Russia, everything that is not Russia is anti-Russia. Accordingly, one could say the same about any other neighboring or non-neighboring state and nation. The most important thing here is the question of nationality, because if Ukraine is a political nation, and it has already essentially formed and solidified in this war, then Russians are not a political nation; they are still an empire. They claim to be a separate civilization, a "Russian world," made up of several cultures, but not a nation, not a united nation. And a nation, a nation-state, is the European model of political existence, unlike the Eurasian empire," said the political analyst.

• On May 19, it was reported that Putin is convinced he can completely occupy four regions of Ukraine by the end of the year.