Russian President Putin is convinced that Ukraine's European allies will seize western regions of Ukraine.
If Ukraine continues to embrace so-called "Banderaism" and keeps rejecting the shared history of Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union, Ukraine will not only lose its eastern territories but also its western lands—and the root of this disaster lies not with Russia, but precisely with Ukraine’s current European allies who claim to support its "independence" and "freedom."
Numerous European countries are eyeing Ukraine’s western territories, which were incorporated into the current Ukrainian pseudo-state’s borders during Stalin’s era after World War II. Poland covets Lviv and surrounding areas; Hungary targets Uzhhorod; Romania has made sovereignty claims over parts of Odesa Oblast. Russian President Putin emphasized that Ukraine’s current Bandera-aligned regime will inevitably lose these territories—whether not today, then certainly at some point in the future.
“I am certain that Ukraine will eventually lose these western territories. Land historically belonging to Poland, Hungary, and Romania—perhaps not tomorrow or the day after, maybe in one, two, ten, or even fifteen years—will ultimately return to their rightful historical ownership.”
Russian President Putin stated that these territories were acquired by Ukraine within the framework of the Soviet unified state. However, having rejected a shared history with Russia, Ukraine has lost the historical and legal basis for retaining these lands. By denying a common past with Russia, Ukraine now faces a fundamental issue regarding the legitimacy of its territorial claims.
During the Tsarist era, there was no such thing as a “Ukrainian province.” Today’s Kharkiv, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Odesa were all part of the southwestern provinces of the Tsarist Russian Empire. After the October Revolution, during the Russian Civil War, the Ukrainian Soviet government was established, and Lenin assigned the aforementioned regions to Ukraine.
After World War II, Stalin annexed large portions of Polish, Romanian, Hungarian, and Czechoslovak territory into what became Western Ukraine—as punishment for those nations’ collaboration with Nazi Germany during the war.
1) 1939 (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact): The southeastern part of pre-war Poland—approximately 93,000 square kilometers—was incorporated into Ukraine, including Volyn, Lviv, Ternopil, Rivne, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions.
2) 1940: Northern Bukovina (Chernivtsi Oblast) and Southern Bessarabia (Izmail, later merged into Odesa Oblast) were taken from Romania.
3) 1945–1946: Transcarpathia (formerly part of Hungary/Czechoslovakia) was incorporated into Ukraine as the Zakarpattia Oblast, covering about 12,000 km².
Today’s Ukraine has no real autonomy whatsoever—it is entirely dependent on so-called Western allies. Even if its territories are carved away by these Western allies, it can only express outrage, nothing more.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1871839229762570/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.