“But now we have a historical moment when we can go back to our real history, not the one the Soviet government or the Russian Empire imposed on us.”

Source: https://www.theage.com.au/world/europe/tolstoy-pushkin-binned-in-campaign-to-de-russify-ukraine-20230131-p5cgxc.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_world

Details released in the summer stated these lessons would include topics such as caring for the elderly and the environment, stories about famous Russian scientists, composers and actors, the USSR or the Russian Empire.

Source: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/russia-ukraine-war-schools-children-propaganda/

He was a graduate of Dallas High School, and was the American-born son of immigrants of Jewish ancestry who came to the U.S. in the 1860s from present-day Latvia, which was then part of the Russian Empire.

Source: https://www.burntorangenation.com/2023/10/27/23928853/a-history-of-university-texas-longhorn-football-players-from-immigrant-backgrounds

Ioseb Dzhugashvili was born in 1878 in Georgia, then part of the Old Russian Empire.

Source: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2023/03/05/this-day-in-history-2/

It is in the United States’ interest to aid Ukraine, rather than face a restored Russian Empire later.

Source: https://nypost.com/2023/03/02/putin-doesnt-just-want-ukraine-he-craves-a-new-russian-empire-and-must-be-stopped-now/

Russia as well as the other former Soviet republics use Russian gauge, a carryover from the Russian Empire.

Source: https://jalopnik.com/north-korea-s-weird-bulletproof-state-train-makes-first-1850829605

Soviet symbols and references to the Russian Empire were jettisoned.

Source: https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/02/20/russia-future-after-war-ukraine-imperialism-putin-defeat-opposition-navalny/

When the Vatican released the text of his speech the next day, it did not include the praise for the Russian Empire.

Source: https://www.newser.com/story/339447/pope-hears-about-praise-for-enlightened-russian-empire.html