5 things to know about Ukrainians as Russia’s invasion of their country continues
Russian military forces approached Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv on Saturday, Feb 26, as Russia’s invasion of the Eastern European nation continues.
“Make no mistake. Ukrainians will prevail,” Ukraine’s official Twitter wrote Thursday, Feb. 24, the day Russia’s attack launched.
“We fought against the Russian and Soviet empires in the past and – always – freedom and democracy won the day.”
Here are 5 things to know about Ukrainians.
Are Ukrainians and Russians one people?
Ukraine is the second largest European country in terms of landmass and neighbors Russia.
It became an independent country in 1991 when it broke away from the Soviet Union, whose capital was Moscow, McClatchy News reported. Now, Moscow is the capital of Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote in a July 21 letter that he believes that Russians and Ukrainians are “one people – a single whole.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and experts don’t agree.
“Let’s finally sort (things) out. Clearly, we are not one people. We have much in common. We share part of history and memory, we are neighbors, we have mixed families, we share the victory over fascism as well as tragedies,” the president said, according to Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
“But, I repeat, we are not one people. If we were one people, in Moscow, the currency in circulation would most likely be hryvnia, and the flag that flies above the State Duma would be yellow-and-blue. We are definitely not a single people. Each one of us has their own way forward.”
Don Jensen, the director for Russia and Europe at the US Institute for Peace, told Vox that saying the nations’ citizens are one and the same is “like Texas claiming direct descent from William the Conqueror.”
“On the one hand, there were constant intermarriages between Ukrainians and Russians,” Jensen said. “But Ukrainian language and culture is noticeably different, and it’s really hard for Russians to get this.”
Less than 12% of Ukrainians want their country and Russia to unify, a 2014 Pew Research Center survey found.
Zelenskyy has called Putin’s statements on Ukraine “propagandist,” according to the center.
Ukrainians and Russians, while separate countries, do have a “shared heritage” that “goes back more than a thousand years,” according to National Geographic.
Ukraine’s capital Kyiv “was at the center of the first Slavic state,” Kyivan Rus, known as “the birthplace” of both Russia and Ukraine, National Geographic reported. Kyivan Rus existed from the 9th to 13th centuries.
In 2021, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter that “Ukrainians & Russians are two separate nations.”
“We could live as good neighbors had Russia not attacked Ukraine in 2014, killing thousands of people, occupying our lands,” he said, referring to Russia’s annexation of Crimea, which the U.S. doesn’t recognize, according to the State Department.
Ukraine’s indigenous groups are Crimean Tatars, Krymchaks and Karaites, Kuleba added.
“Russians are a national minority protected by Constitution as other minorities. They have (their) own state thus can’t be considered indigenous people.”
What language do Ukrainians speak?
The people of Ukraine mostly speak Ukrainian, which is similar to the Russian language as well as Polish, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. Poland is another one of Ukraine’s neighbors in Eastern Europe.
Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian each come from a “branch of the Slavic language family,” according to the encyclopedia.
Additionally, there are 19 other languages spoken in Ukraine, Translators without Borders reports.
A 2001 census found that, of their first languages, 67% speak Ukrainian, 30% speak Russian, 7% speak Romanian, 5% speak Crimean Tatar, and 3% speak Bulgarian, among other languages, according to the organization.
The alphabet used by Ukrainians comes from the Cyrillic alphabet, which emerged around roughly the 9th century, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.
How many people live in Ukraine?
Roughly 43 million people live in Ukraine as of 2022, according to World Population Review.
It’s one of the poorest countries in Europe, World Population Review reports.
Most of its residents — 70% — live in Ukrainian cities, according to WorldData.info. Some of its largest cities include Kyiv, Kharkov and Odessa.
There were about 320,000 Ukrainian immigrants living in the U.S. as of 2018, according to the Shevchenko Scientific Society. They made up 28% of 1.2 million Ukrainian-Americans throughout the U.S.
What are Ukrainians’ religious beliefs?
The majority of Ukrainians, 78%, are Orthodox Christian, a 2015 Pew Research Center poll found. In 1991, only 39% in the country had said the same.
Additionally, the poll found that 71% of Russians are also Orthodox Christian.
What’s more is that 51% of all Ukrainians “say it is at least somewhat important for someone to be Orthodox to be truly Ukrainian,” according to the poll.
Just 10% of Ukrainians practiced the Catholic faith as of 2015 and 7% were unaffiliated with a religion. Meanwhile, 5% of Ukrainians surveyed declined to answer.
What do Ukrainians eat?
One of the most popular Ukrainian dishes is a brightly colored red, beetroot soup containing meat such as chicken or fish called “Borscht,” according to the Kitchen Community.
It can also be substituted with vegetables instead of meat and typically includes a big scoop of sour cream placed on top.
Another dish mostly eaten in northern Ukraine is potato pancakes, or “Deruni,” the Kitchen Community lists. It includes fried up potatoes served in pancake form and can be accompanied with sour cream or yogurt.
One meal is named after the Ukrainian capital Kyiv — “Chicken Kiev,” Theculturetrip.com writes.
It’s a “simple combination of fresh chicken filet with a piece of butter is considered to be quite exquisite all over the world.”
A famous Ukrainian dessert is called Varenyky and is topped with cherries, according to Destinations.com. Simply put, they’re Ukrainian dumplings that have been a part of Ukrainian culture for years.
More Ukrainian dishes can be found here.
This story was originally published February 26, 2022 at 4:48 PM with the headline "5 things to know about Ukrainians as Russia’s invasion of their country continues."
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