Erased Histories: Confronting Russian Colonialism

Paris | 10 December 2025 | Europa Experience
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On Wednesday, 10 December 2025, an international audience gathered at the Europa Experience in Paris for Erased Histories: Confronting Russian Colonialism - a public project presentation and expert discussion examining mass deportations, cultural erasure, and identity destruction as core instruments of Russian imperial rule.

The event was organised by PR Army in partnership with Opsci.ai, bringing together policymakers, researchers, journalists, civil society actors, and the wider public.

Volodymyr Kogutyak, Ukrainian World Congress

Exposing a continuum of colonial violence.

The Erased Histories project places forced displacement at the centre of Russian imperial strategy, tracing a direct line from the Russian Empire through the Soviet period to Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. It documents how deportations, repression, and cultural destruction were deployed systematically to dismantle national communities and enforce long-term control.

The exhibition and discussion highlighted the experiences of Crimean Tatars, Circassians, Chechens, Kalmyks, ethnic Germans, Pontic Greeks, Koreans, and other communities whose histories were deliberately erased or rewritten. By linking historical crimes to present-day practices, the project rejects attempts to treat deportations as isolated or accidental events.

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Oksana Mitrofanova, INALCO

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Moderator

Darius Beucler, Information Warfare Lead, Opsci.ai

Speakers

Dmytro Raiskyi, Director of Strategic Communications and Government Affairs, PR Army

Vladyslav Havrylov, Historian, Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues, Georgetown University

Oksana Mitrofanova, Author and Researcher, INALCO

Bertrand de Franqueville, Independent Researcher

‍Volodymyr Kogutyak, Vice President, Ukrainian World Congress

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Bertrand de Franqueville, Independent Researcher

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From history to accountability

‍Erased Histories: Confronting Russian Colonialism aims to move the debate from abstraction to responsibility. By placing survivor testimony, archival research, and contemporary evidence side by side, the project calls for recognition of deportations and cultural erasure as systemic crimes and for concrete action through investigations, sanctions, and accountability mechanisms.

The Paris event marked a clear step toward restoring erased histories to the centre of international political and legal debate.

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Dmytro Raiskyi, Director of Strategic Communications and Government Affairs, PR Army