The Image of the Imperial and Soviet Past in Ukrainian Legislation (2014 –2025)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the evolution of the historical image of the USSR, Russia, and Ukrainian-Russian relations in Ukrainian memorial legislation from 2014 to 2025, as a reflection of the transformation of state policy on memory and public perceptions of the Soviet and imperial past in the context of the Russo-Ukrainian war. The relevance of the study stems from the fact that, following the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2014, and particularly after the full-scale invasion in 2022, profound changes occurred in approaches to understanding the past in Ukraine, which were directly reflected in regulatory legal acts. The scientific novelty of the work is determined by the analysis of memorial legislation from 2014 to 2025 as a distinct historical source that reflects the state-level dynamics of reconceptualizing the past in wartime.

 Based on an analysis of laws and resolutions of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the politics of memory transformation, from the coexistence of post-Soviet and national narratives to the formation of a holistic national model of historical memory, is traced. It is shown that the adoption of the laws on decommunization in 2015 consolidated the rejection of the (post)Soviet historical canon and initiated the systematic dismantling of the symbols of the communist regime. Special attention is paid to the rethinking of World War II in Ukrainian legislation.

 It is proven that after 2022, there was a rethinking not only of the Soviet period of history, but also of the imperial period, which led to the intensification of the processes of decolonization and condemnation of Russian imperial policy. The legislative definition of Russia as a terrorist state, the recognition of the genocidal nature of its actions, as well as the adoption of laws on the decolonization of toponymy and the principles of state policy on national memory, testify to the formation of a new state historical narrative.  It is concluded that the evolution of the historical image of Russia in Ukrainian memorial legislation reflects not only a change in the state policy of memory, but also broader shifts in Ukrainian society's perception of the country that has been an aggressor.