Posted by Oksana on August 28, 2000 at 11:59:55:
In Reply to: Ukrainian-Russian relations posted by Andrew on August 27, 2000 at 19:23:49:
"I've since heard from a Russian friend that relations between the two countries are pretty poor at the moment and that many Ukrainians pretend not to know Russian. Any Ukrainian thoughts on the matter? (I understand Russian but not Ukrainian at the moment)."
Dear Andrew,
I am sure that you might have heard from your Russian friend (as well as from any other Russian) a lot of very negative things about Ukrainians, and Ukraine in general. Our "big brothers" just can't get over the fact that after 350 years of being Russian colony, Ukraine finally broke free. Several times (on a plane, at airports, etc., or even at conference dinners) I overheard similar conversations between Russians and a "westerners" (sorry for this term), where Russians were giving a very altered picture of events and relations, between Russia and Ukraine in particular, twisting facts, or simply lying. Well, we probably shouldn't expect anything else from Russian people. They have great tutors -- Russian official media... I am just trying to make a point here: Please, do not trust everything you hear from Russians about Ukraine. It is like putting a mouse an trial, were all the members of a jury are cats. Or wise versa.
As for pretty poor relations between Russia and Ukraine -- when weren't they poor? Just read the history book (not written by Russians, please!)From the moment Russia became a strong country with an army, it has been trying (and succeeding) to take over Ukraine. And other neighbouring countries as well. And now, after 9 years of Ukraine's independence, Putin has started a new, hard driven campaign in order to put an end to it.
10 years ago, when I was travelling, and my fellows passengers were asking me where I was from, I answered: Ukraine. The reaction almost always was following: Oh, I know -- it is in Russia. I took trouble to explain that no, it wasn't. Unfortunately, even now similar reactions still happen, with a slight modification: Oh, I know -- it WAS part of Russia. Not something very pleasant to hear for an Ukrainian. For many years Russians presented our history, our culture as part of theirs (Kievan Rus', for example, is a craddle of Ukrainian civilization, NOT Russian. You are probably surprised to hear that!). Even our language was presented as a mere dialect of a Russian "mighty" language. And many Western scholars accepted that, and went along with that "theory" (or rather lie). That is why Ukrainian historians went into a great deal of trouble, just trying to prove that we have been existing as a nation, and as state. And alas, we are still often perceived as Russians (what the difference?), greeted in Russian (one of my co-workers -- a nice fellow, by the way, -- managed to learn Russian "zdravstvujte", and greets me with it every time he sees me. First I congratulated him on his newly aquired word, and explained that, though I know Russian, it is not my native language. I even told him about Ukrainian "Dobryden'". Later, I started responding to his Russian greetings in French "bon juir." After 3 years, he still greets me in Russian...
)
Ukrainians are so tired of being still perceived as Russians! (or malorussians, for this matter) ANd language is a very important issue here -- it is a factor of self-determination. By the way, have you heard about Bilozir affair? Probably not.Just for the reference: a known Ukrainian composer was killed last May in L'viv (city in Western Ukraine) by Russians for singing Ukrainian songs in caffee...
Anyway, it looks like I got carried away. Sorry for the long cermon. I guess, it would have taken me much shorter to explain the same to an Irishman. :)