The face of the “Russian world” in the research of scientists and the memoirs of eyewitnesses

Russian policy towards Ukraine reached its apogee in the form of full-scale armed aggression on February 24, 2022. With the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the mask of the Putin regime in foreign policy and in the implementation of the concept of the “Russian world” was completely removed. The purpose of the article is to present a general picture of the implementation of the concept of the "Russian world" based on the research of scientists and eyewitness accounts. The novelty of the article is the introduction into scientific circulation of new historical data from eyewitnesses of the events, collected during interviews with them, statistical materials from institutions responsible for the implementation and analysis of the concept of the "Russian world", official statements by ideologists of this concept, which highlight the specifics and content of Russian policy in Ukraine. Historians have concluded that the "Russian world" in practice turned out to be a cruel, imperialist doctrine, consisting in a merciless attack on sovereign states with the aim of their conquest and national destruction. The Russian-Ukrainian war, as a vivid manifestation of the face of the "Russian world", is a struggle not only against the Ukrainian state, but also against the entire Western civilization.