WHAT WESTERNERS KNOW AND DON’T KNOW ABOUT UKRAINE
2 min read
Ukrainian diaspora of the post WW2 generation are generally a treasure trove of what Ukrainian language and culture were like before the Soviets did seven decades worth of damage and destruction to Ukraine.
Most non-Ukrainian western journalists, academics, etc. have ZERO understanding of this.
The overwhelming majority of these western “experts” know only the Sovietized (i.e. Russified) Ukraine. They’ve zero understanding of the changes and losses that occurred. And they don’t care about it. Instead, they champion nurturing the perverted Sovietized version of Ukraine.
These know nothings with loud speakers of international reach chastise Ukrainian diaspora rather than listening to them to understand what Ukraine was like before Soviet destruction.
They dismiss diaspora efforts to help foster the de-Russification of Ukraine as “extremist”, “fascist”, “nationalist”, “regressive” and so on. But who the hell are they to have a voice on a culture and heritage they don’t actually know?
They champion the identity of Ukraine that works for Russia, not for Ukraine as a thriving, independent nation. It isn’t “democratic” to want a Ukraine that isn’t awash in Russian culture and language to these fools.
Rather telling, they ignore outright the Russian-speaking Ukrainians who were held captive by Russian occupation forces in Ukraine who made the deliberate and very public switch to using Ukrainian language exclusively. Film maker Oleg Sentsov is a famous example among many.
They ignore that if has been only Ukraine’s most patriotic politicians, who champion a Ukrainian identity for Ukraine (like former president Victor Yushchenko), that have been Ukraine’s true democratizing, reformist, and westernizing force in Ukraine.
They mostly ignore or tar and feather the Ukrainian political and activist set that promote de-Russification of Ukraine. Those impossible to ignore are often summarily dismissed as “extremist”. They don’t get support or positive write ups.
They ignore that the Ukrainians most committed to the de-Russification of Ukraine are the ones who are the real path to Ukraine’s success as a nation, whole and free.
But what the hell do they know? They don’t know what Ukraine was. They just know the Sovietized version of the country where many Ukrainians behave like a colony of Russia — and don’t even know it.
