Invading the past: Russia and science fiction

Science fiction flourished from the earliest days of the Soviet Union. A rare space to explore other realms and utopian dreams of progress. But with the Soviet Union's collapse different narratives bubbled up.

Many of them reactionary, imperial, violent with one sub genre flourishing above all - Popadantsy: accidental time travel where protagonists return to World War Two or the Imperial past to set the path of Russian history on the 'right' course, perhaps with the aid of Stalin or even Hitler. The enemies are frequently the US, Britain and the West.

Historian Catherine Merridale explores how the once visionary world of Russian science fiction shifted in the time of Vladimir Putin to become a reactionary playground. Did the real invasion of Ukraine actually began amid the pages of such dark fictions?

Producer: Mark Burman

(Image: Illustration of bomber planes and tanks on the move. Credit: Getty Images