NEWSFLASH: Ancient Ukrainian city – long controlled by Russia – now in Ukrainian hands

The history of Sudzha – seized during Ukraine’s flash counteroffensive into Kursk region – shows absurdity of relying on historical ethnic, linguistic boundaries as justification for war.

Editor’s note: I know, I know, we’re supposed to be on a publishing break this week. But the Ukrainian counteroffensive currently underway in the Kursk region compelled us to bring you this reporting on the history of the area. 

Upgrade to a paid subscription to read the entire NEWSFLASH breaking news alert, and get all of them in the future. 

The town of Sudzha, near the Ukrainian-Russian border, marked by a red arrow. 

Sudzha, a Russian city in the Kursk region now under Ukrainian control, has a storied past: a link to Ukrainian history that illustrates the flaws in Putin’s authoritarian logic.

Russia constantly talks about returning “historically” Russian territories when justifying its invasion of Ukraine.

• Crimea has been under the control of the Russian Empire for centuries, they say, and was allegedly “gifted” by a drunken Khrushchev to Ukraine during the Soviet era.

• Donbas legitimately belongs to the Soviet Union, they claim, because it was during this era that industry allegedly developed there.

• And Kyiv is the so-called “mother of Russian cities.” 

The history of Sudzha, like many cities along the Russian-Ukrainian border, has ties to both nations. Putin’s imperial logic would suggest Ukraine would have a claim on this territory – something the Ukrainians themselves have rejected. The Ukrainian government has clearly said it does not seek to occupy this territory. 

Sudzha was founded in the middle of the 17th century as a city of Cossacks – a semi-nomadic peoples who lived on the territory of Ukraine and are considered by many to be the ancestors of Ukrainians. 

The 1897 Russian census, for example, showed that 61% percent of Sudzha spoke Ukrainian.