Russian Empire
This was the name of the early East Slavic state that emerged by the 9th century, with its capital in present-day Ukraine.
What is Kyivan Rus?
This Marxist leader's message resonated with impoverished Russians, and he seized power in the October Revolution.
Who is Vladimir Lenin?
In 1991, over 90% of Ukrainians voted for this, a result Putin has long protested.
What is independence (from the Soviet Union)?
In 1998, Boris Yeltsin appointed Putin to head this agency, the main successor to the KGB.
What is the FSB (Federal Security Service)?
Ukraine's 2023 counteroffensive was largely stopped by these, including dense fields of explosives and deep trench lines.
What are minefields and defenses (or dragon's teeth)?
According to the text, the Bolshevik Revolution was fueled by this persistent trio of problems, including military failures and political repression.
What are social inequality, military failures, and political repression?
This term, meaning "death by hunger," refers to the devastating man-made famine in Ukraine used to suppress nationalism.
What is the Holodomor?
In 2014, Russia annexed this Ukrainian peninsula after a disputed referendum held under military occupation.
What is Crimea?
In 2004, these three Baltic states, once part of the Soviet Union, officially joined NATO, a major point of contention for Russia.
What are Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania
This key Ukrainian city fell to Russian forces in February 2024 after a long and brutal battle.
What is Avdiivka?
Putin uses this term to describe the incorporation of Crimea under Catherine the Great, framing it as a bringing together of people rather than a conquest.
What is unification?
At the Yalta Conference, Stalin promised these would be held in the Eastern European countries the USSR controlled.
What are free elections?
Putin described the internal Soviet borders as this type of border, meaning they were nominal and not true state lines.
What were administrative borders (or "never seen as state borders")?
The position Yeltsin appointed Putin to in August 1999, making him the second-highest-ranking official in Russia.
What is Prime Minister?
This country's delayed military aid package was finally approved in April 2024 to help Ukraine.
What is the United States?
The 1861 abolition of this system failed because of inadequate land redistribution, leaving peasants in poverty.
What is serfdom?
The 1949 event that prompted the U.S. and Britain to airlift supplies into a city for nearly 11 months.
What is the Berlin Blockade? (or What is the Soviet blockade of West Berlin?)
This pro-Russian president, Putin's pick, fled to Crimea after the Euromaidan protests overthrew his government.
Who was Viktor Yanukovych?
This type of export has historically made up over 60% of Russia's exports and 30% of its GDP.
What are oil and natural gas?
Ukraine has used long-range drones to strike targets inside Russia, including these facilities that process fuel.
What are oil refineries?
Putin argues that this modern country, along with Russia and Belarus, is a descendant of Ancient Rus and thus not truly separate.
What is Ukraine?
The war in which the U.S. backed the mujahideen, including a group that would later become the Taliban, against the Soviet Union.
What was the Soviet-Afghan War?
The eastern Ukrainian region where Russia fomented a separatist conflict after the annexation of Crimea.
What is Donbas?
This country's desire to move closer to Europe led Russia to threaten cutting off its oil supply in 2006 and 2009.
What is Ukraine?
This type of warfare, involving trenches and heavy artillery, defined the fighting in 2023 after early maneuvers failed.
What is a war of attrition?