Ukraine
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Very interesting to encounter Ukrainian-American pro-Russians. Most people acquire a sense of ethnic identity from their relatives - e.g., immediate family, extended family. All the Ukrainian-Americans I know are staunchly pro-Ukrainian. But, alternatively, I suppose some people may instead read some things on the internet or somewhere, and decide their real identity is or should be Russian.Originally Posted by Yaroslav
In an academic way, it makes sense. The stubbornness and endurance of the Ukrainian identity is difficult to explain. Whether you call them Ukrainians, or Ruthenians, Rusyns, etc., they just know that they're not Muscovites! Even if they've been linguistically and culturally Russified.
I think that the legacy of the Soviet Union drove a significant wedge between Ukrainians and Russians. Stalin really was one evil bastard, and starved millions of Ukrainians to death. Sure, many Russians perished due to Stalin, as well, but this seems like collateral damage to a campaign that was primarily focused on eradicating any possible resistance the Ukrainians could offer to Soviet rule. Yet this is a man that Russians today largely revere!
But today's Russia is really more comparable to Imperial Russia than it is to the USSR. Sure, there were Russification efforts aimed at Ukrainians, and some Ukrainians really hated the Tzars, etc. But Ukrainians willingly handed their sovereignty to Moscow in 1654 with the Treaty of Pereyaslav, in exchange for Russian protection from the Poles. On many occasions through the centuries, Russians shed their blood for Ukrainians. Many parts of Ukraine today were conquered for them by Russians!
Still, though, the animosity remains, and it won't go away anytime soon. I can understand the Russian position on Ukraine and the reaction to the perceived attempt by the West to turn Ukraine against Russia. But the reality is that the Ukrainian "divorce" was largely initiated by Ukrainians, with minor assistance from the West. Perhaps many Ukrainians pre-2014 would have rather been closer to Russia, but it is a FACT that the Russian hybrid war against Ukraine has solidified anti-Russian sentiment among Ukrainians.
Frankly, both sides have made enemies of each other. If circumstances were different, this could have been avoided. Ukrainians today cannot distinguish their true friends from their enemies. It is most unfortunate to see Ukrainians today putting the Tatars on a pedestal, and jointly crying over 1944 with them, when the Tatars were brutal enemies of both Ukrainians and Russians. Tatars captured and sold millions of Ukrainians and Russians into slavery. Finally, Russians (along with Ukrainians) dismantled the Crimea Khanate and decimated the Tatars. Today, the Tatars are one of those whiny "indigenous peoples" in Ukraine that the Ukrainian establishment and Ukrainian liberals are all too eager to kiss the asses of.
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