#415 – Serhii Plokhy: History of Ukraine, Russia, Soviet Union, KGB, Nazis & War

Serhii Plokhy is a Ukrainian historian at Harvard University, director of the Ukrainian Research Institute, and an author of many books on history of Eastern Europe, including his latest book The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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Transcript: https://lexfridman.com/serhii-plokhy-transcript

EPISODE LINKS:
Serhii’s X: https://x.com/splokhy
Serhii’s Website: https://history.fas.harvard.edu/people/serhii-plokhii
Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute: https://huri.harvard.edu/
Serhii’s Books: https://amzn.to/3OS2EqK
2006– The Origins of the Slavic Nations
2010– Yalta: The Price of Peace
2012– The Cossack Myth: History and Nationhood in the Age of Empires
2014– The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union
2015– The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine
2016– The Man with the Poison Gun: A Cold War Spy Story
2017– Lost Kingdom: The Quest for Empire and the Making of the Russian Nation
2018– Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy
2021– Nuclear Folly: A History of the Cuban Missile Crisis
2021– The Frontline: Essays on Ukraine’s Past and Present
2022– Atoms and Ashes: A Global History of Nuclear Disaster
2023– The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History

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OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00)– Introduction
(09:10)– Collapse of the Soviet Union
(25:19)– Origins of Russia and Ukraine
(38:22)– Ukrainian nationalism
(46:04)– Stepan Bandera
(1:15:05)– KGB
(1:30:03)– War in Ukraine
(2:06:19)– NATO and Russia
(2:17:22)– Peace talks
(2:31:09)– Ukrainian Army head Valerii Zaluzhnyi
(2:37:46)– Power and War
(2:48:37)– Holodomor
(2:55:09)– Chernobyl
(3:05:43)– Nuclear power
(3:15:20)– Future of the world