In 1858, as China was losing the Second Opium War, the Russian Empire forced it to conclude an unequal treaty, seizing over 600,000 km² of Outer Manchuria under the threat of invasion. This colonial land grab was justified using the language of security concerns: 🧵

1881, Jaffa, Palestine. A man walks into the famous Jerusalem Hotel and, to the surprise of its mostly British and German guests, deliberately speaks to everyone in Russian, refusing to address them in their "devilish foreign tongues." Baffled by this behavior, the hotel’s owner

"Sevastopol is not Moscow and Crimea is not Russia," wrote Alexander II in September 1855. To fully grasp this statement, it’s crucial to appreciate the blend of condescension, exoticism, and Orientalism that permeated the way Russian authors of the era depicted Crimea:

A take on the ongoing decolonization debate from Russia's veteran opposition journalist Yulia Latynina, and it's about as disgusting as it gets.