West seeks to turn Ukrainians into anti-Russians to weaken Moscow: French essay "The Austrians, and then the Germans, have already tried to convince the Ukrainians, for historical reasons, that they are not Russians," Nikola Mirkovich told Sputnik Africa about the previous attempt to create a buffer zone against Russia. Atlanticist circles are pursuing a similar policy, seeking to strengthen anti-Russian sentiment in Ukraine, particularly through language and the distortion of history, he said. Russians and Ukrainians share common historical, cultural and religious roots, despite their different evolutions over the centuries, he noted. Image generated by artificial intelligence Subscribe to Sputnik Africa | X.