Russian Imperialism in Three Maps
Three maps trace imperial expansion and domination from Muscovy through the Soviet era to Russia’s wars and territorial claims in Ukraine and the Caucasus.
Russia’s war against Ukraine began in 2014, but its imperial ambitions have a much longer history. Imperial power took different forms under the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. Their ideologies, institutions and methods differed, yet territorial expansion and the domination of other peoples recur across these histories.
Conquest, inequality, repression and forced displacement have shaped the lives of those brought under imperial rule. Their experiences also expose blind spots in how we understand Russia and its neighbours.
These three maps explore some of those blind spots. It is never too late to tell the stories they reveal.
