“The Russian Empire must suffer a military defeat and then decolonise”. Interview with Maksym Eristavi

Maksym Eristavi is a journalist who has been studying and popularising awareness of Russian colonialism for the past decade. Recently, together with a team of Ukrainian artists, he published a book - an illustrated guide to 48 recent Russian invasions of independent countries. 

The journalist is also a co-founder of the #VolyaHub and The Ukrainian Spaces projects, aimed at raising global awareness of Russian colonialism and uniting communities of people affected by Russia's imperial policies.

Svidomi spoke to Maksym Eristavi about the process of decolonisation in Ukraine, how Ukraine's colonial past is perceived abroad, dialogue and unification with other enslaved peoples, and whether Russia can abandon its imperial ambitions.

— About ten years ago, the situation was completely different than it is today. As a journalist, I tried to promote this topic and find people researching it. In the West, the issue of Russian colonialism was often ridiculed and not taken seriously, as if we had invented it to promote our propaganda or Russophobia. After the genocide in Ukraine began, more attention has been paid to it, and it has been taken more seriously. 

There is also a personal aspect because I come from a family that suffered and was torn apart by Russian colonialism. In my family, many people went missing, and there are many problems related to language and identity when you don't understand who you are and where you come from. All these questions that arose inside me were the beginning of my quest to find answers to them as a journalist.

When I began looking for an answer through my personal history, this process led me to understand that this is neither an accident nor an individual story but part of a larger scheme of enslavement and Russification that aims at erasing your identity. And when your identity is erased or obliterated, it is much easier for the empire to say who you are, where you come from, and what your fate will be.

— Because Ukrainians are paying for it with their lives, and it is no longer possible to turn a blind eye and ignore it. For the first time in history, representatives of other formerly enslaved peoples are starting to talk about the same things and explain the Russian Empire to the outside world. It is hard to ignore this chorus of voices.  

But there is a much bigger problem behind this: for a long time, there was an Iron Curtain, and it is not only about the Soviet Union but also about the culture that the Russian Empire built, isolating all the voices of the peoples it enslaved for many centuries. This has led to a trend abroad where everything related to Russia or the countries around Russia has always been explained exclusively by Russians. This is how a distorted idea of who Ukrainians, Qazaqs or Moldovans are was built through the prism of the coloniser.

Changing this in one book or project in a year is impossible. We deal with a culture rooted in the world for decades. But for the first time in history, we have the opportunity to talk about ourselves thanks to social media and our own process of decolonisation, when we understand more clearly what happened to us when we see that it is all part of a bigger story. So, the collective power, the time we live in, and the tragedy happening to the Ukrainian people all combine to raise the issue of colonialism.

— It is essential to distinguish between imperialism and colonialism to understand why the Russian Empire was colonial. A colonial empire is not only about territory; it is first about identity and how the empire dominates, erasing another identity. 

Nowadays, studies are proving that colonialism can take many forms. It's not necessarily that colonial empires have colonies overseas or that people from the empire have to be different from people from the colonies regarding skin colour. 

In fact, this is an archaic view of Western researchers. That is, the fact that Western colonial empires were like this does not mean that colonialism elsewhere will have the same characteristics.

These emerging voices must find their platform and show that we cannot look at the entire colonial experience from a Western perspective alone. I want to see these conversations and ideas become mainstream and popular among the general public. 

However, 90% of academic work is done in Western academic institutions. The best talent from all over the world works there. The largest global and independent media are based in the West. That is, on platforms dominated for decades by Russian voices, which are now trying to promote the idea that this is Putin's war and ordinary Russians are victims. 

Therefore, the voices emerging in Ukraine have to compete and draw attention to the fact that this is not something unprecedented. It has happened many times before and will happen many times after us.

— The only undeniable achievement that the Russian Empire has is propaganda. Russia is the only empire that exists according to the rules of the 19th century but remains innocent because of the powerful propaganda that has been a constant throughout the different regimes.  This allows them to hide the nature of the empire itself and switch from regime to regime in time. To reset, let's say, and successfully evade responsibility for previous crimes, because you can always say: "Sorry, we have a new regime, and everything that happened in the past stays in the past."  And they will continue to do the same things they were doing but with a new label and PR campaign.

The Soviet Union was the period where it was practised. If we look at what the Soviet Empire said, especially abroad, and compare it with what it did, we see classical policies of colonialism and enslavement. 

How do we communicate about this? I think we should sometimes show examples of Western colonial empires and their relationships with the lands — for example, Britain and Ireland. 

Also, the fact that some colonised peoples had the opportunity to get to high positions in the colonial empire does not mean that Kyiv, Minsk or Almaty made the decisions. It never happened. Even if someone in the hierarchy managed to do so, all decisions were always made in Moscow. And the enslaved countries within the USSR were never on a par with Russia. 

It is also essential, especially for Ukrainians, that we use the attention and interest in our history to say that people from other enslaved cultures, not just from Ukraine, have similar experiences. That's why, for example, the guidebook (Eristavi's book Russian Colonialism - ed.) pays equal attention to all 48 examples of Russian invasions.

— I would say here that it is essential to look for answers within. I started working on this topic because I sought answers to personal questions. The most important question: "What is authentic in your identity, and what is imposed?" We can't always find the answer; decolonisation can last a lifetime. But it is crucial to start this search. Because if we don't find answers, it will be harder to expose the empire to the outside world and stop it. 

During the ten years of my work, there were many moments when it seemed to make no sense. It is essential to look for other people who have gone through or are going through similar experiences. Because, in the end, all empires must fall - not just the Russian one.

— I don't care what happens inside Russia. Amid genocide, these are not the right questions. Even all the Russians in the world cannot tell about Russia in the way that one person who survived Russian colonialism can. 

It is vital to make popular the stories of those who survived colonialism and understand what Russia is, what it does, and what patterns of behaviour this empire has. Now is the time for them to be heard, not for those representing the empire. Regardless of who they vote for, what they think, whether they support accountability for Russia's actions or whether they want the end of the empire, this is not their time to speak.

I have a principled position not to cooperate with Russian citizens, although, of course, there are enslaved peoples inside Russia who are colonised and are in a fraternal prison of nations. But for me, it is not ethical to have a dialogue with Russian citizens while the genocide is happening in Ukraine.

— When you open the book Russian Colonialism, the first page contains the phrase "The Empire will fall". I needed to start the book this way because this is not just our wish. It is a fact. All empires fall apart, and this will happen to Russia. We don't know how it will happen.

However, it is crucial to understand how this empire exists and how it repeatedly avoids responsibility for its crimes. Where this understanding begins, justice can come. A 100% empire must suffer a military defeat on the battlefield. Without this, empires will not understand anything — especially a fascist empire which understands only the language of power.

— I believe that it will happen in our lifetime. When I talk to people from other countries who have experienced Russian colonisation, I often see how many crimes this empire committed using the same formula. That is why I feel that our task is to stop this cycle of violence. If it does not stop now, it will continue for our children. 

Today, we have a unique moment when everyone is looking at Ukraine, and we have to accumulate all our voices and deliver the message that this empire and the cycle of violence must be stopped.

— The resistance of Ukrainians now inspires everyone who deals with Russian colonialism - this is a fact. Everyone understands that if Ukraine lost, other countries would be invaded. So, of course, Ukraine, kicking the empire in the teeth and driving it out of its territory, has and will have the most substantial impact on whether all these stories about liberation, the end of the empire, and decolonisation will have a future. 

The best way to help us is to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In all my conversations about Russian colonialism, I emphasise that all the work will be meaningless if Ukraine does not receive enough weapons. 

But, again, we have to attract this support through talks about historical justice so that people do not narrow our struggle to some unprecedented case and understand the responsibility that Russia, in whatever form it remains, must bear. 

The next step is to consolidate with these communities that were also enslaved.  Even though our experience of the colonial past is fundamentally similar to that of the Kazakhs, for example, it is different because of racism. We need to unite. 

We are having a meaningful conversation about what language to use to denounce the empire. For example, we talked with our Central Asian friends about why using oriental language about the Ottoman Empire is not a constructive and adequate narrative for talking about the empire. I think we need to talk to each other more often to create effective coalitions within ourselves.

— Personally, I am against any empires of imperialism and colonialism, so I need to support similar educational work of people who deal with issues of colonialism in general, not just Russian colonialism. On the other hand, it is essential to understand in what persona and with what authority you speak. Why is Russian colonialism my topic? Not because Russian colonialism is the only colonialism in the world or because Russia is the only empire that ever existed. But because I understand what Russian colonialism is and can explain it.

In some cases, it is difficult for us to attract allies in certain Western countries because they have hardly had any conversations about the consequences of colonialism. Maybe they lacked justice when other colonial empires collapsed. I think they have some kind of subconscious or conscious understanding that the responsibility that Russia has to bear is just. But we need to finish our work and then think about what additional value we could add to the conversations about colonialism in the world.

— A few days before the full-scale invasion, I started an X thread with cases of Russian invasions of independent communities over the past 100 years. I was frustrated that even a few days before the full-scale invasion, all the talk was about some unprecedented thing that was about to happen and that it was Putin's war. 

We wanted to show clearly and explicitly that there is a specific formula and sequence of what Russia does. And this thread went viral. It became clear to me even then that it was essential to get out of the bubble and create a more physical format to encourage more people worldwide to analyse this topic. 

Art and culture have always helped Ukrainians survive in the darkest of times. So, it was a natural idea to combine Ukrainian art from the genocide with journalistic work to create this guide. 

Probably, this work became especially important after the genocide began because the village I come from was under occupation (Maksym does not name the area for security reasons - ed.) When the Russians are burning hundreds of Ukrainian books, there is this responsibility to create new ones — and as many as possible. 

We published the book in two languages: Ukrainian and English. The first task is to expose the empire to the outside world; the second is to expose it inside our heads. And for me personally, the death of the empire begins in our heads.

— In the first weeks of the full-scale invasion, together with activist Valeriia Voshchevska, we started The Ukrainian Spaces podcast. We saw that Ukraine was the number one topic in the world, but Ukrainian voices were hardly heard. So, we decided to create a safe space for Ukrainians with different backgrounds. In the first season, people came and said in English what they wanted to say about Ukraine. 

Later, we started working with friends and allies in the Global South. We did a season of bridge episodes where we invited people from non-Western countries that support Ukraine — Taiwan, South Sudan and Qazaqstan. We tried to understand and show why they think it is essential to support us. 

Ukrainians rarely have a dialogue with the Global South, which is a significant omission because Russian propaganda is powerful in these places now. But things are not hopeless. We see a strong shift in the perception of Ukraine in Africa, India or Brazil, where more and more people are beginning to understand us. They are beginning to understand the nature of the empire, and what it told them was not valid.