Unification Versus Localisation: National Minorities of Southern Ukraine in Russian, Ukrainian, and Regional Historical Narratives

This article analyses the positioning of national minorities within three historical visions of Southern (Steppe) Ukraine—Russian, Ukrainian, and local. The authors explore how these narratives are implemented through the instruments of historical policy and the role national minorities play within them, particularly in the context of the ongoing information war, decolonization and decommunization policies, and the Russian occupation of part of the region. Special attention is given to the concept of “Novorossiya” as an element of Russian imperial and neo-imperial discourse, aimed at erasing the ethnocultural diversity of the region and integrating it into the broader all-Russian historical paradigm. In this context, the process of appropriating elements of minority historical memory in the occupied territories is also examined. The authors interpret these processes through the lens of a constructivist approach to identity and collective memory formation. At the same time, the Ukrainian state narrative, especially after 2014, tends towards an Ukrainocentric reinterpretation of the South’s history as part of a broader strategy of national self-determination. In the context of conflicting historical policies, the region’s national minorities increasingly turn to local narratives that have emerged through long-term coexistence with the Ukrainian majority.