Timothy Snyder

U.S. historian, professor at Yale University, specialist in Eastern Europe history studies

Timothy Snyder

Russia's Crimea Disconnect

On 7 October, an explosion destroyed some of the Kerch Bridge, which connects Russia to Crimea.  It is a new construction. When Russia invaded Ukraine the first time, in 2014, there was no such bridge, no road connection between Russia and Ukraine's Crimean province.  From the perspective of Ukraine, Crimea is a peninsula.  From the perspective of Russia, Crimea is an island. 

18 October 2022, 04:15 PM 1221

Russia's Obscene "Referendums" /
Russia's Obscene "Referendums"

With Ukraine now on the offensive, Russia announced just a few days ago that it would no longer try to hold “referendums” on the territory it occupies in Ukraine. Then, coinciding with Putin’s speech yesterday, this policy reversed, and now “referendums” are supposedly being held — more or less instanta-neously, right now, under conditions of war. People are struggling for a way to speak of this nonsense without using the word “referendum,” which in this con-text is obviously misleading propaganda, to say the least.

29 September 2022, 06:32 PM 302

The state of the Russo-Ukrainian war. TELLMES tell us that Russia is losing

In the last two posts, I have tried to explain what this war is and is not about.  It is not about Nazis, nukes, and NATO; it is about self-rule and survival.  Now I turn to the question of what is happening on the battlefield. 

31 July 2022, 11:30 PM 3473

Nazis, Nukes, and NATO or what the Russo-Ukrainian war is not about

It's been a while since I've been able to write about this awful war, but I think now, five months in, we are in a position to say what it is not about, and indeed never was about.

27 July 2022, 01:02 PM 1675

We all owe a debt to Ukraine

Vladimir Putin believes that he can say whether or not Ukraine exists. God has told him that Ukrainian souls are Russian.  History revealed to him that Ukraine strives towards "unity" with Russia. 

1 July 2022, 09:45 AM 413

The folly of "off-ramps". When Ukraine wins the war, Putin will build his own

Some observers of the Russo-Ukrainian war seem to think that its greatest danger is that Ukraine will win, or win too quickly, and that this will be uncomfortable for Putin, and that we should care. 

2 June 2022, 01:15 PM 1698

Ten reasons why Ukraine’s victory over Russia is crucial for the world

Timothy Snyder, a professor of history at Yale University, outlined ten reasons why he believes the entire world should root for Ukraine to be victorious in its defense against Russian aggression, during his address to the Kyiv Security Forum on May 8. We publish an excerpt of his speech below:

9 May 2022, 10:41 PM 4885

Russia's genocide handbook

 Russia has just issued a genocide handbook for its war on Ukraine.  The Russian official press agency "RIA Novosti" published last Sunday an explicit program for the complete elimination of the Ukrainian nation as such.  It is still available for viewing, and has now been translated several times into English.

11 April 2022, 08:29 PM 3945