ABSTRACT
Western Sovietology was influenced by Russian emigre historians of Russia and historians who adopted Russian nationalist frameworks which airbrushed Ukraine from history. In the 1970s and 1980s, the broadening of Sovietology to researching the non-Russians and nationality problems in the USSR was largely a North American phenomenon. In the UK, Sovietology remained highly Russo-centric and focused on ‘Kremlinology;’ British scholars have only researched the non-Russian nations of the former USSR since 1991. Russian repression of Crimean Tatars in occupied Crimea and the Donbas is grounded in racist and Islamophobic discourse and discriminatory policies. In addition to political, religious, and ethnic discrimination and political repression, Russia is undertaking four policies which are illegal in international law: imposition of Russian citizenship on residents of Crimea, forced deportations, conscription into the Russian military, and changing the ethnic demography of Crimea. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.
