David Marples Re-appointed as CIUS Research Fellow

27 March 2026

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At CIUS, Distinguished Professor of History David R. Marples will continue his collaborative research with Oleksandra Kushnir on the legacy of the “Great Patriotic War” and its connection to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Their project examines Russian media and social media narratives in the two years preceding the full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Their work investigates how the Russian state frames the war as a continuation of World War II–era ideology, recasting NATO as a modern-day equivalent of Nazi Germany and portraying the Ukrainian government as a “neo-Nazi” regime. This narrative, they argue, serves as a central justification for the invasion.

In addition to this research, Professor Marples will publish commentary on current developments in Ukraine through his Substack and represent CIUS in media interviews. His work will also highlight Belarus’s role in the regional balance of power, particularly its strategic position between the Russian Federation and NATO. He has recently co-authored a new book with Veronica Laputska, Belarus: What Everyone Needs to Know, published by Oxford University Press.

David R. Marples is a University of Alberta Distinguished Professor and teaches Russian and East European history. He holds a PhD in Economic and Social History from the University of Sheffield, UK. He is the author of seventeen single-authored books and five edited books on topics ranging from 20th Century Russia, Stalinism, contemporary Belarus, contemporary Ukraine, the Chernobyl disaster. and 20th century Russia. In 2010-15 he was President of the North American Association for Belarusian Studies. His recent books include Belarus: What Everyone Needs to Know (co-authored with Veronica Laputska) (February 2026, Oxford University Press),  Stalin (co-authored with Alla Hurska) (2022), The War in Ukraine's Donbas (edited, 2022), Understanding Ukraine and Belarus (2020), Ukraine in Conflict (2017), ‘Our Glorious Past: Lukashenka’s Belarus and the Great Patriotic War (Stuttgart, Germany: Ibidem Verlag, 2014), and Heroes and Villains: Creating National History in Contemporary Ukraine (2008). His chief areas of interest are Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia, and he has served as a consultant on Belarus for the US Department of State, the Department of Defence, Canada, and the Foreign Office of the United Kingdom, among many others.