Putin’s “historical arguments” miss a lot of history

Nationalist history is mostly cherrypicked, no matter which nation. They include enough truth to try to sway people to their side, but only just. It isn't without reason that "Moskvycha," or some other variant of Muscovite has been a slur in Ukrainian and southern Russian dialects for centuries.

So what happened more than 70 years ago does matter today?

It matters when it's kept relevant- WIth Russia's constant expansion, whenever it was the Tsar, Communists, or Putin, it's very much relevant.

Agreed. Today's problems with police brutality and other oppression grows out of America's history of slavery and genocide.