The First War of Liberation led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky lasted 9 years from 1648 to 1657 against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the creation of a Cossack state. Historians quite reasonably call the modern “three-day” Russo-Ukrainian war the Fourth War of Liberation for Ukraine’s Independence
“Full-scale war of russia against Ukraine” is just a description of the scale, not a historical name. We call this war in different ways: Russo-Ukrainian, great, full-scale, liberation. Documents refer to “armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine”. In daily conversations, it is much shorter: war. But perhaps it is time to name it so that the name itself explains to future generations what Ukraine was fighting for.
This is written by Ivan Arefiev specifically for the Prompolitinform portal.
The War for Ukraine’s Independence is not for abstract political slogans. Not for ratings, positions, or pages in history textbooks. We are fighting for Ukraine’s right to exist as an independent sovereign state.
Ukraine’s independence was proclaimed – now we are defending it
In 1991, Ukraine restored its state independence. But Moscow, it seems, perceived this not as the final decision of the Ukrainian people, but as some annoying technical error that could later be fixed with gas, intelligence networks, corruption, missiles, and tanks.
They failed to persuade, so they decided to intimidate. They failed to intimidate, so they sent the army. In 2014, Russia occupied Crimea and started the war in Donbas. In 2022, it tried to destroy Ukrainian statehood with one big strike. Therefore, the full-scale invasion is not the beginning of a separate war, but the bloodiest stage of the long struggle for Ukraine’s independence. Although russian propaganda can invent new explanations every day: NATO, biolaboratories, combat mosquitoes, historical lands, protection of Russian speakers, and the standard “we were forced to”.
But the real reason is much simpler. Russia does not recognize Ukraine’s right to be a separate state. To the Muscovite imperial mentality, an independent Ukrainian is more dangerous than any missile. Because they prove by their very existence that one can live without a tsar, the Kremlin, and Moscow’s permission.
That is precisely why they are destroying our culture, rewriting history, kidnapping children, banning the Ukrainian language in occupied territories, and trying to turn Ukrainians into a population without a memory. So, this war is not just about land. It is about who will own our future.
A name matters
Israel called its 1948–1949 struggle the War of Independence. For Israelis, this name became not just a historical term. It explained the meaning of the war in one sentence: the state was born and defended its right to live.
Ukraine restored its independence before the current invasion began. But now we are defending it from an empire that refuses to accept our choice. Therefore, the name “War for Ukraine’s Independence” does not exaggerate events. It restores their true meaning.
And for historical accuracy, one can use the full name: Russo-Ukrainian war for the independence of Ukraine, which began in 2014 and, as of the writing of this article, its end date is unfortunately not yet known.
The name is direct and quite specific – the war for Ukraine’s Independence. Without a vague “conflict”. Without a shy “crisis around Ukraine”. Without formulations where the aggressor mysteriously disappears, as if an enemy tank got lost in Ukrainian forests on its own, and an occupier’s missile accidentally decided to inspect a residential building.
A war has an aggressor. And that is Russia. Independence is not a document in a frame. For a long time, we thought that independence was a flag, a coat of arms, an anthem, borders, and a celebratory concert on August 24. Today, we know for sure: independence has its bloody price and the names of those who pay it.
They are standing in pixel camouflage on the front line. Guarding the sky. Evacuating the wounded. Extinguishing houses after missile and drone strikes. Manufacturing their own drones. Donating their hard-earned money to the Defence Forces of Ukraine. Waiting for their loved ones and continuing to live under sirens.
Independence is not something you get once and put on a shelf. It is something you have to defend in a fight against invaders.
What our children will call this war
The modern Russo-Ukrainian war is quite reasonably called the Fourth War of Liberation for Ukraine’s Independence.
Such terminology and historical periodization are officially used by Ukrainian historians, scientific institutions, and military analysts.
Why is this war the Fourth? In Ukrainian historical science, modern events are viewed as a direct continuation of previous stages of the armed struggle for their own statehood:
* The First — National-liberation war led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky (1648–1657) against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the creation of a Cossack state — the Zaporozhian Host (Hetmanate).
* The Second — The first liberation struggles (1917–1921). The era of the Ukrainian Revolution, the creation of the UNR and ZUNR, and the armed struggle to preserve independence against Bolsheviks, White Guards, and interventionists.
* The Third — The second liberation struggles during and after the Second World War (struggle of the OUN-UPA in the 1940s–1950s). National-liberation movement, armed struggle of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and the OUN underground against Nazi and Soviet occupation regimes.
* The Fourth — The modern war against Russian aggression (since 2014), aimed at the final preservation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and its final exit from the russian empire’s zone of influence.
Perhaps the final name will be determined by historians after the victory. They will still argue about dates, stages, terms, and correct wordings. But Ukrainians already know its meaning.
This is a war for the right not to ask Moscow what language to speak. For the right to choose the government, allies, and development path on our own. For the right to call our heroes heroes and the invaders – invaders. For the right to be Ukrainians not only in the kitchen, but in our own state.
So, we have already found a name for our war. Now it remains for the russians to come up with a name for their own occupation war. I can suggest: “Special military operation for the final destruction of the two-headed empire”.
Author: Ivan Arefiev
Collage: Andriy Atlantov
