Unlawful Acts Committed by Russian Army Soldiers Against Peasants of the Podilia Governorate in the 19th Century
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The purpose of this inquiry arises from the need to continue a comprehensive and in-depth examination ofaspects related to the causes (motives), consequences, and the social response of both local communities and authorities tothe criminal aggression of soldiers toward peasants and their property. Such analysis allows for a deeper understanding of thefoundations of military policy, the attitude toward the rule of law, and the level of legal awareness not only among soldiers butthe broader society of the described period.Scientific novelty. Firstly, as a result of the continuation of the study of archival materials from the imperial judicial institutions in Podolia in the 19th century, primarily from the State Archive of Khmelnytskyi Oblast, new information and documentshave been found and processed, which open up new aspects of their activities or complement those discovered in previousyears. This allows for a more detailed understanding of the motivations and mentality of criminals in uniform. Secondly, in lightof the events of the ongoing full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, clear historical parallels can be drawn between the occupationpolicies of the Russian Empire in the 19th century and the current Russian Federation in the 21st century. Therefore, with a highdegree of certainty, one can confirm and predict the behavior of Russian soldiers in the occupied territories, who, under theslogans of the «Russian World,» are committing genocide against the Ukrainian people.Methodology. The study employs the method of systematization which helped organize the information and present thematerial in a logical sequence, allowing for a detailed analysis of the events and phenomena under investigation. The structural-systematic method enabled the identification of the research object and its examination within the framework of rational knowledge, avoiding biased interpretations of empirical material (legislative acts, normative documents from provincialauthorities, memoirs of participants, statistical data). The dialectical method of studying historical processes allowed for theconsideration of the identified issues in their development and contradictions. Given the need to uncover the properties andmanifestations of the studied process as a historical reality and to determine the role of specific representatives of militarycommand, regional and provincial administration, and local government apparatus in societal changes, the biographical andhistorical-genetic methods were used. The retrospective method enabled distancing from the present and gradually immersingin the realities of life in Podolia during the outlined period, identifying its features and patterns of development.Conclusion. Criminal aggression against the civilian population by soldiers of the Russian Empire’s army in the 19thcentury is a predictable phenomenon caused by the societal worldview, mentality of the moscovites, and the very structure(essence) of the armed forces of moscovy-russia throughout the imperial period, a legacy later taken up by the Soviet andPutin’s armies. As archival documents show that this army was composed of criminals, thieves, and looters, whose existencewas shaped by the harsh treatment they received from the officer corps, drill practices, and years of difficult living and eatingconditions. The unwillingness of some soldiers to adapt to physical abuse and poverty led to psychological resistance andrejection of the serfdom-based system of the imperial army, which manifested in criminal aggression toward the civilian population. This same russian army continues to exist in the 21st century, carefully preserving and propagating the traditions of its ancestors. Feeling impunity, its soldiers in occupied or annexed territories behave as occupiers, always serving as thoughtless instruments of imperial policy.
Source: Ukrainian Peasant
Author: Anatolii Skrypnyk
Language: English
Topic: Soviet and Russian History
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4412826023