Editor’s Note: This op-ed was published by Atlantic Council. It is republished here with permission. Ever since 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin has weaponized history as part of his hybrid war against Ukraine. On numerous occasions, most infamously in his July 2021 essay “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians,” Putin has used highly selective interpretations of the past to undermine Ukrainian national identity and legitimize his own expansionist imperial ambitions. Putin’s