Once Upon a Time, There Was a Country Called Ukraine …

How will the future look back on the country that gave its life for Western hegemony?

Years from now, younger generations may stumble across historical references to a place called “Ukraine”, and a fierce warrior people called “Ukrainians”.

“Papa, tell us about Ukraine! Did it really exist?”

Yes, children, Ukraine did exist — for a few turbulent decades straddling the 20th and 21st centuries, there was an actual nation state, an independent country called “Ukraine”.

“What were Ukrainians like, Papa?”

Well, THAT depended on where you were. You see, the Ukrainians in the Eastern and Southern part of the country were mostly Russian, or at least mostly spoke Russian. These people were also imbued with (or at least tolerant of ) Russian history, culture, society and religion. The Russian language was used in the schools and in official capacities.

These “Russian” Ukrainians mostly prayed in the Russian Orthodox Church, or the Ukrainian branch of it. And that was because those parts of Ukraine — Crimea, Donbas, Odessa, etc. — had been under Russian rule for hundreds and hundreds of years.