Serhii Plokhy: The Collapse of the Soviet Union (1991)

For this week's episode Peter headed in to Penguin's offices in London to meet Serhii Plokhy and talk to him about his new book, The Russo-Ukrainian War. They discussed how a culture of secrecy continues to define Russian society as it did before with the Soviets. They looked at the progress of the war and Putin's failed attempt to found a 'Eurasian Union'.

Following this Serhii revisits the dramatic events of 1991, when he watched on as the Soviet Union collapsed in the most unexpected of ways.

Serhii Plokhy has been described as 'The world's foremost historian of Ukraine' by the Financial Times. His new book, The Russo-Ukrainian War, is available in hardback now.

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Show notes

Scene One: August 1991. Moscow during the attempted coup

Scene Two: Late August. Edmonton, Canada. The Canadian prime minister pledges to recognize Ukrainian independence

Scene Three: 25 December. Mikhail Gorbachev's Resignation Address

Memento: Serhii Plokhy's aeroplane ticket from 1991

People/Social

Presenter: Peter Moore

Guest: Serhii Plokhy

Production: Maria Nolan

Podcast partner: Ace Cultural Tours

Theme music: ‘Love Token’ from the album ‘This Is Us’ By Slava and Leonard Grigoryan

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