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This week, Vladimir Putin’s government announced a new round of sanctions on British individuals. Where most have focused on politicians and military leaders, this list was the first to focus on cultural figures.
It was accompanied with a statement that claimed the Kremlin was sanctioning “Russophobic British representatives” for “trying to discredit the constitutional system and socio-political processes in our country” and “pushing the Zelenskyy regime to continue the bloodshed” in Ukraine. They wrote that “the so-called brain trusts operating [in] British educational institutions make a significant contribution to the subversive work of London in the Russian direction” and that academics including Abulafia “bore responsibility for crimes against civilians.”
One of those sanctioned was David Abulafia, a Professor of History at the University of Cambridge, specialising in Renaissance and Mediterranean history, the Holy Roman Empire, and most recently, the oceans. For a maritime historian, this seemed like an usual situation, so UnHerd asked if he would talk about it.
He joined UnHerd’s Freddie Sayers live from Cambridge to share the interpretation of history that had caught the eye of the Kremlin.
You can watch the full interview above.
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