Ukraine at 35: The Nation Dudayev Warned Russia Could Not Subdue

Russian President Vladimir Putin has never hidden his grief over the collapse of the Soviet Union. He called its breakup “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century” and has spent years trying to restore Moscow’s control over the lands and nations it lost. But decades before Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Dzhokhar Dudayev saw where that imperial nostalgia would lead.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. The first president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria warned in the 1990s that Russia’s ambitions would not stop in Chechnya. He saw Ukraine as central to the struggle against Russian imperialism long before much of Europe understood that Moscow still viewed independent neighboring states as territory to be reclaimed. Unmasking ‘rashism’ Long before Russia seized Crimea or sent tanks toward Kyiv, Dudayev warned that Moscow’s imperial ideology would eventually bring it into direct conflict with Ukraine. His insight came from inside the Soviet system. Dudayev rose to major general in the Soviet Air Force and commanded a strategic bomber division in Estonia, giving him an intimate understanding of the Soviet system from within. In a 1995 interview, he used the term “Rashism” to describe an ideology rooted in Russian great-power chauvinism and the domination of other peoples. He warned that Moscow would disguise its imperial ambitions behind slogans of “Slavic unity” and eventually clash with Ukraine. Other Topics of Interest Ukraine at 35: Can the Strategic Partnership With the US Survive? As Ukraine approaches the 35th anniversary of its restored independence, a question that once seemed unthinkable has become unavoidable: will the US remain Kyiv's principal strategic partner? What others still saw as post-Soviet partnership, Dudayev recognized as unfinished empire. Then came Georgia in 2008, Russia’s occupation of Crimea and war in the Donbas in 2014, and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Dudayev did not live to see them. Russian forces killed him in 1996. ‘Become strong’ Dudayev’s message to Ukraine was not simply to beware Russia. It was to prepare. “My wish is that Ukraine become a strong nation with a clear policy. Help yourselves and become strong,” he told Ukrainian journalists in 1995. Ukraine eventually had no choice. It built a military capable of stopping Russia’s assault on Kyiv, developed a powerful domestic defense industry and turned technological innovation into an advantage against a much larger enemy. ‘When the Ukrainian sun rises’ “Remember my words: Russia will disappear when the Ukrainian sun rises,” Dudayev famously predicted. In the 1990s, Ukraine was disarming, Russia was being welcomed into Western institutions, and many governments believed the Soviet empire had disappeared with the Soviet flag. Dudayev saw something different. He saw an empire waiting for another chance. Thirty-five years after Ukrainians chose independence, Russia is still trying to reverse that decision by force. Yet, Ukraine’s hard-earned resilience is now the greatest obstacle to rebuilding the empire lost in 1991. Without Ukraine, there can be no Soviet Union 2.0. Because of Ukraine’s strength, Putin’s grand ambition remains exactly that – a costly, unfulfilled dream. The dawn is hard-fought, but Ukraine’s horizon is clear. Slava Ukraini! Sevinj Osmanqizi is an experienced journalist who writes extensively for Kyiv Post on foreign policy, international security and geopolitics. Based in Washington, D.C., her work focuses on Ukraine, Russia’s war and the broader post-Soviet space.