Continuity of Repressive Mechanisms: A Comparative Analysis of Soviet Practices in the Western Ukrainian Lands in the Mid-1940s and the Crimes of the Russian Federation against the Civilian Population of Ukraine in 2022

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to substantiate the institutional, personnel, legal, ideological, and practical continuity of repressive mechanisms through a comparative analysis of Soviet practices in the western Ukrainian lands in the mid-1940s and the crimes committed by the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the RF) against the civilian population of Ukraine in 2022, as well as to determine the role of violence as a systemic instrument of imperial power. To achieve this purpose, the study addresses the following objectives: to analyze the forms of Soviet terror in the western Ukrainian lands; to characterize the crimes committed by the RF against the civilian population of Ukraine in 2022; and to identify the specific mechanisms of continuity between the Soviet model of state terror and the contemporary coercive policy of the RF at the institutional, organizational, personnel, legal, ideological, and practical levels. The methodological framework of the study is based on historical-comparative, systemic, and structural-functional approaches. The research employs an analysis of archival materials concerning the activities of the NKVS-MVS (People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs – Ministry of Internal Affairs) and the NKDB-MDB (People’s Commissariat for State Security – Ministry for State Security) of the Ukrainian SSR from 1944 to 1953. It also synthesizes contemporary scholarly publications and legal assessments of war crimes committed by the RF, alongside a comparative analysis of various forms of violence, including mass executions, deportations, torture, and extrajudicial repression, as well as the mechanisms of their legitimization across different historical periods. Particular attention is paid to identifying signs of institutional continuity and the transformation of repressive institutions. The findings demonstrate that violence in both historical contexts functioned not as a situational response to political challenges, but as a systemic means of establishing and maintaining control over territory. Similarities were identified in the mechanisms of the so-called “cleansing” of space from undesirable elements through physical extermination, forced displacement of the population, intimidation, and the destruction of social structures. The study proves the existence of institutional continuity manifested in the preservation of a centralized coercive hierarchy, the predominance of punitive functions, and the use of extrajudicial methods of influence. It was established that changes in the ideological formulas used to justify violence were not accompanied by changes in its essential mechanisms. Repressive practices display clear characteristics of colonial subjugation aimed at suppressing identity and reshaping the demographic structure of the controlled territories. The study confirms the historical continuity of the repressive model formed during the Soviet period and reproduced in the contemporary policy of the RF. The obtained results deepen the understanding of contemporary aggression as a continuation of the tradition of state terror. The practical significance of the study lies in establishing a conceptual framework for further legal and historical research, as well as for documenting crimes against the civilian population.