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| The pastel country appendages of Putin's vision of "Greater Russia" |
Interestingly, both of the women I met seemed more Russian-identified than Ukrainian-identified. When I asked the woman from Kyiv about that, she thought a bit then said, "Actually, I consider myself multicultural and bilinqual," meaning she speaks both Russian and Ukrainian, very common in Ukraine. She also studied and speaks Spanish, and it's the language she teaches. Now that's multicultural! She's lived in the US a long time, including in California and Texas.She and her son are happy here.
I also met a teacher of English (or maybe it's ESL) from Donetsk. I was looking forward to meeting her because I feel such a special bond with the people of eastern Ukraine. She wore a black tee-shirt emblazoned with Россия (Russia) on it. While waiting for a lecture to start I walked over to a table displaying Russian matryoska dolls, painted art and embroidery, so familiar and nostalgic.The young woman came over and I commented on the beautiful work. I told her I had lived in eastern Ukraine, close to Lugansk, for two years, and had many friends there.
"It is horrible to see what has happened there," she said.
"Yes," I nodded in sympathy.
"The Ukrainians have slaughtered their own people, destroyed their homes, destroyed neighborhoods...My parents see it everyday. They tell me...My mother saw neighbors' houses blown up by Ukrainians....From Kyiv they are starving the people, preventing supplies, no electricity, no water, harming their own people."
The words went on, not verbatim perhaps but to this effect. Caught off guard by the nature and vehemence of her reply, I stood mute for a minute, looking directly at her, seeing her and hearing these words bashing the Ukrainian devils.
Not what I expected I guess. I mustered a weak voice. "No, I don't believe that's the way it is. Russsians should not be in Ukraine at all. My friends tell me..."
She interrupted. "There are no Russians in eastern Ukraine. Russia has nothing to do with it." Now I'm hearing the gist of what she is saying but losing the words.
"I see. Well, we certainly do not agree about that." She gave me a rather hard look. "We will not agree. I know the truth."
And so the brief exchange with the Ukrainian woman from the east, who seemed to think of eastern Ukraine as the Russian Donbas, started and stopped. It raised lots of questions, that's for sure.I sit through the lecture, but my mind wanders. I hear my friend Olga from Starobelsk: "This is what we face daily, dear Fran....This is how we are mocked and taunted....This is how Russian propaganda has made it impossible to defend our country."
I hear Natalia and Tonya. "It is as if Ukraine does not exist," Tonya, born in the village of Medwin near Kyiv and living in rural Kuryacheka, says.
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| Me with master embroiderer Marta in Starobelsk |
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| Elena's art |
The art work of Elena pops up, an artist who studied and painted in the indigenous decorative arts tradition of Lugansk called "Arts Slobodskoy." So does the poetry of dearest Anton, who taught me about Ivan Savich and the tradition of local poets who loved and wrote in the Ukrainian language. Many ended up in Russian gulags because of it.
The enforced Russification of Ukrainian culture is a story few people know about (see blog links below).
Thinking of Ukrainian beauty and culture almost makes me sad nowadays. The deeply discordant chords of an ancient conflict, the ongoing denial of a unique Ukrainian identity, Putin's revival of imperial visions and the good old days of Stalin, envelop my spirit.
For people who believe Ukraine is not a real country with legitimate borders and a distinct heritage, the conflict in eastern Ukraine is a Civil War. "The Ukraine," as it used to be called (still is sometimes, in error) is considered an appendage of Russia, the Slavic breadbasket that belongs to Russia, like Crimea. The "rebels" are fighting the "fascists" in Kyiv who support the Maidan revolt and self-determination. The Ukrainians have brought the disaster on themselves.
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| left and right images, S, Plokhy's histories. |
For those who believe, as I do, that Ukraine is a country with legitimate internationally recognized borders, the Russians are aggressors. They have violated the territorial integrity of a sovereign nation. It is NOT a civil war. It is a war that Putin planned. It is Russian policy, directed from Moscow. Putin's war is accompanied by a virulent propaganda campaign, exemplified in the orchestrated build-up and takeover of Crimea by those "little green men" without insignia who were Russian special ops, mercenaries and thugs. Ukraine is fighting for its life against the rapacious force of Russia. |
| This new investigative report documents extensive human rights violations in Eastern Ukraine. |
I was still mulling all this stuff over when I woke up the next morning. As I browsed the news online, a headline caught my eye: "Are Russians and Ukrainians the Same People?" It stood out like a neon light in a dark night. Did someone overhear our conversations? The same issue I encountered on Saturday was a banner headline on Yahoo news on Sunday morning.
The headline turned out to be an article written by award-winning Harvard historian and Ukraine expert Sergii Plokhy, who recently published "The Gates of Europe," a history of Ukraine, and a year before that "The Last Empire," about the fall of the Soviet Union and its aftermath.
I poured myself a cup of coffee and read the article. It was fascinating. Yes, Plokhy explains, Putin has once again stirred up an hysterical nationalist fervor over "Greater Russia." Yes, that's his justification for taking over Crimea and going into eastern Ukraine. It's a revivial of imperial nationalism that threatens not only the East Slavic states of Ukraine and Belarus but also other post-Soviet republics with Russian-speaking populations, Estonia, Latvia and Kazahkstan.
There are, of course, problems with Putin's vision and the equation of the Russian language with Russian nationality, Plokhy argues:
"While ethnic Russians are a majority of the population in Crimea and make up large minorities in parts of the Donbas, most of the population of the projected New Russia consists of ethnic Ukrainians. While separatist propaganda appeals to some, most have refused to identify themselves with Russia or exclusive Russian ethnicity even as they continue to use the Russian language.That was one of the main reasons for the failure to create a buffer state by extending rebel holdings from Donbas to Odesa and Khargiv." [Note: Russia's still trying. Putin wants Odessa as much as he wanted Crimea.]
Indeed, the majority of ethnic Russians, who comprise only 17% of Ukraine's total population, do not support the invasion of the Donbas and generally oppose Russian interference in Ukraine affairs, according to a poll Plokhy cites. They give their identity as both Russian and Ukrainian, like the woman I just met who grew up in Kyiv. At least the woman from Donetsk is in the minority, I thought.
The Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Plokhy concludes, brings to the fore a critical contemporary issue with deep roots: "The unfinished process of building not only a Ukrainian but also a Russian modern nation."
I turn to my dearest friend Natalia in Starobelsk. I tell her my little story and send her the link to Plokhy's article. She immediately emailed me back. She had read the article right away.
The Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Plokhy concludes, brings to the fore a critical contemporary issue with deep roots: "The unfinished process of building not only a Ukrainian but also a Russian modern nation."
I turn to my dearest friend Natalia in Starobelsk. I tell her my little story and send her the link to Plokhy's article. She immediately emailed me back. She had read the article right away.
Fran, we are not Russians, but we belong to the family of Slavic people. We are closely tied geographically and historically. But the question is not who is or who isn't Russian, or which nation is better. The fact is that Ukraine started its painful way towards democratic development while Russia has not yet. I fully agree with the author that "The solution to the Russian Question lies not in territorial expansion but in the formation of a law-based democratic society capable of living in harmony with its neighbors and playing a positive role in the modern world."Natalia got to the heart of the matter. As Plokhy concluded, the solution lies in building strong, modern 21st-century states--self-determined, meeting the needs of their people, playing positive roles in our shared world. Not war, not archaic imperial visions, not old ways of thinking. But the impetus for modern nation building must come from within, and it doesn't look very hopeful at the moment. The discordant chords of Putin's war, jarring, incessant, casts a pall over hope. There is such a long, painful road ahead into the future.
Blogs on Ukrainian Culture:
http://fran-ukrainian-adventure.blogspot.com/2010/11/ivan-savich-and-ukrainian-poets.html
http://fran-ukrainian-adventure.blogspot.com/2009/10/anton-poet.html
http://fran-ukrainian-adventure.blogspot.com/2010/12/preserving-ancient-decorative-painting.html
http://fran-ukrainian-adventure.blogspot.com/2010/03/kooryachevka-village-school.html
http://fran-ukrainian-adventure.blogspot.com/2010/02/freedom-fighters.html
Some books:
2) Serhii Plokhy, The Gates of Europe and The Last Empire.
3) Timothy Snyder, Bloodlands, about eastern Europe
between Hitler and Stalin during WWII, its devastating impact, and the ongoing consequences to this day.
4) Serhy Yekelchyk, "The Conflict in Ukraine: What Everyone Needs to Know."
http://fran-ukrainian-adventure.blogspot.com/2010/11/ivan-savich-and-ukrainian-poets.html
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