Russians in Ukraine
Encyclopedia
Russians in Ukraine form the largest ethnic minority in the country, and the community forms the largest single Russian diaspora
in the world. In the 2001 Ukrainian census
, 8,334,100 identified themselves as ethnic Russians
(17.3% of the total population).
population is significant throughout Ukraine ranging from merely a notable fraction of an overall population in the west, to a significant minority in the center and growing in number even further to the east and south.
In the west and the center of the country, the percentage of the Russian population is higher in the cities and industrial centers and much less in the overwhelmingly Ukrainophone rural areas. Due to the traditionally high presence of the Russians in the cities, as well as for the historic reasons, most of the large cities in the center and the south-east of the country (including Kiev
where Russians amount to 13.1 % of the population) remain largely Russophone
to this day.
The traditionally mixed Russo-Ukrainian populated territories are mainly the historic Novorossiya
(New Russia) and Slobozhanshchina (Sloboda Ukraine) that are now both split between modern Russia and Ukraine
. Russians also constitute the majority of the population of the Crimea
, the peninsula now in the very south of Ukraine that was transferred from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR
in 1954 by the decision of the Soviet government.
) region (what is modern northern Ukraine) from medieval times. The first new waves of Russian settlers onto Ukrainian territory came in the late 16th century to the empty lands of Slobozhanschyna, in what is now northeastern Ukraine, that the Russian state gained from the Tatars
, although they were outnumbered by Ukrainian peasants escaping harsh exploitative conditions from the west. In 1599 Tsar Boris Godunov
ordered the construction of Tsareborisov on the banks of Oskol River
, the first city and the first fortress in Eastern Ukraine. To defend the territory from Tatar raids the Russians built the Belgorod
defensive line (1635–1658), and Ukrainians started fleeing to be under its defense.
More Russian speakers appeared in northern, central and eastern Ukrainian territories during the late 17th century, following the Cossack Rebellion
led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky
. The Uprising led to a massive movement of Ukrainian settlers to the Slobozhanschyna region, which converted it from a sparsely inhabited frontier area to one of the major populated regions of the Tsardom of Russia
. Following the Pereyaslav Rada the modern northern and eastern parts of Ukraine entered into the Tsardom of Russia. This brought the first significant, but still small, wave of Russian settlers into central Ukraine (primarily several thousand soldiers stationed in garrisons, out of a population of approximately 1.2 million non-Russians).
At the end of the 18th century, the Russian Empire captured large uninhabited steppe territories from the former Crimean Khanate
. The systematic colonization of lands in what became known as Novorossiya
(mainly Crimea
, Taurida and around Odessa
) began. Migrants from many ethnic groups (predominantly Ukrainians and Russians from Russia proper) came to this area. At the same time the discovery of coal in the Donets Basin
also marked the commencement of a large-scale industrialization and an influx of workers from other parts of the Russian Empire.
Nearly all of the major cities of the southern and eastern Ukraine were established in this period: Aleksandrovsk (now Zaporizhia
; 1770), Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipropetrovsk
; 1776), Kherson
and Mariupol
(1778), Sevastopol
(1783), Simferopol
and Novoaleksandrovka (Melitopol
) (1784), Nikolayev (Mykolaiv
; 1789), Odessa
(1794), Lugansk (Luhansk
; foundation of Luhansk plant in 1795).
Both Russians and Ukrainians made the bulk of the migrants — 31.8% and 42.0 % respectively. The population of Novorossiya eventually became intermixed. and with the Russification
being the state policy, the Russian identity dominated in mixed families and communities. The Russian Empire
officially regarded Ukrainians, Russians and Belarusians as Little
, Great
and White Russia
ns, which, according to the theory officially accepted in the Imperial Russia, belonged to a single Russian nation, the descendants of the people of the Rus'
.
In the beginning of the 20th century the Russians were the largest ethnic group in the following cities: Kiev
(54,2 %), Kharkov
(63,1 %), Odessa
(49,09 %), Nikolaev
(66,33 %), Mariupol
(63,22 %), Lugansk (68,16 %), Berdiansk
(66,05 %), Kherson
(47,21 %), Melitopol
(42,8 %), Yekaterinoslav (41,78 %), Yelisavetgrad
(34,64 %), Pavlograd
(34,36 %), Simferopol
(45,64 %), Feodosiya (46,84 %), Yalta
(66,17 %), Kerch
(57,8 %), Sevastopol
(63,46 %), Cuguev
(86 %).
during the Russian Civil War
(1918–1922). Although macroscopically Ukraine
was fought over by several powers: Austro-Hungary, Germany
, Poland
, Romania
; Ukrainian People's Republic
, the Anarchist Black Army
as well as the Red Army
and the White Army, the population of New Russia by large allied themselves only with the latter three. A large portion of men that made up the armies of Denikin
and Wrangel
came from New Russian volunteers (see Volunteer Army
.) Nevertheless, most of the people in New Russia supported the Red Army
and a big part supported the Black Army
, because most of the residents of the area were peasants and workers, classes that were opposed to the Tsar
's regime.
The first Russian Empire Census
, conducted in 1897, showed extensive usage (and in some cases dominance) of the Little Russia
n, a contemporary term of the Ukrainian language
, in the nine south-western Governorates and the Kuban
. Thus, when the Central Rada officials were outlining the future borders of the new Ukrainian state they took the results of the census in regards to the language and religion as determining factors. The ethnographic borders of Ukraine thus turned out to be almost twice as large as the original Cossack Hetmanate
incorporated into Russia in the 17th century.
The October Revolution
also found its echo amongst the extensive working class and several Soviet Republics were formed by Bolsheviks of Ukraine: Ukrainian People's Socialist Republic, Soviet Socialist Republic of Taurida, Odessa Soviet Republic
and the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Republic
.
The Russian SFSR government supported the military intervention against the Ukrainian People's Republic
, which at different periods controlled most of the territory of present-day Ukraine with the exception of Crimea and Western Ukraine. Although there were differences between Ukrainian Bolsheviks initially, which resulted in proclamation of several Soviet Republics in 1917, later, due in large part to pressure from Lenin and other Bolshevik leaders, one Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed. The Ukrainian SSR
was de jure
a separate state until the formation of the USSR in 1922 and survived until the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Lenin insisted that ignoring the national question in Ukraine would endanger the support of the Revolution among Ukrainian population and thus new borders of the Soviet Ukraine were established to the extent that the Ukrainian People's Republic
was claiming in 1918. The new borders completely included Novorossiya
(including the short-lived Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic
) and other neighboring provinces, which contained substantial number of ethnic Russians.
In Ukraine's case, both threats came, respectfully, from the south and the east, Novorossiya
with historically strong Russian cultural influence, and the traditional Ukrainian centre and west. These considerations brought about a policy of Ukrainization
, to simultaneously break the remains of the Great Russia
n attitude and to gain popularity among the Ukrainian population, thus recognizing their dominance of the republic.
Ukrainian language was mandatory for most jobs, and its teaching became compulsory in every school.
By the early-1930s attitudes towards the policy of Ukrainization had changed within the Soviet leadership. In 1933 Stalin declared that local nationalism was the main threat to Soviet unity. Consequently, a lot of changes introduced during the Ukrainization period were reversed, Russian language schools, libraries and newspapers were restored and even increased in number. Changes were brought territorially as well, forcing the Ukrainian SSR to cede some territories to the RSFSR. During this period parents in the Ukrainian SSR
could choose to send their children whose native language was not Ukrainian to schools with Russian as the primary language of instruction.
, and its population, including Russians, significantly decreased. The infrastructure was heavily damaged and it required human and capital resources to be rebuilt. This compounded with depopulation caused by two famines of 1931-1932
and a third in 1947 to leave the territory with a greatly reduced population. A large portion of the wave of new migrants to industrialize, integrate and Sovietize the recently acquired western Ukrainian territories were ethnic Russians who mostly settled around industrial centers and military garrisons. This increased the proportion of the Russian speaking population.
Near the end of the War, the entire population of Crimean Tatars
(numbering up to a quarter of a million) was expelled from their homeland in Crimea
to Central Asia
, under accusations of collaborations with Germans. The Crimea was repopulated by the new wave of Russian and Ukrainian settlers and the Russian proportion of the population of Crimea went up significantly (from 47.7% in 1937 to 61.6% in 1993) and the Ukrainian proportion doubled (12.8% in 1937 and 23.6% in 1993).
The Ukrainian language remained a mandatory subject of study in all Russian schools, but in many government offices preference was given to the Russian language that gave an additional impetus to the advancement of Russification
. The 1979 census showed that only one third of ethnic Russians spoke the Ukrainian language fluently.
In 1954, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR
issued the decree on the transfer of the Crimean Oblast from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR
. This action increased the ethnic Russian population of Ukraine by almost a million people. Many Russian politicians considered the transfer to be controversial. Controversies and legality of the transfer remained a sore point in relations between Ukraine and Russia for a few years, and in particular in the internal politics in Crimea. However, in a 1997 treaty between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, Russia recognized Ukraine's borders, and accepted Ukraine's sovereignty over Crimea.
.
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Ukraine
became an independent state. The independence was supported by the referendum
in all regions of Ukrainian SSR
, including in those featuring large Russian
populations. A study of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine found that in 1991 75% of ethnic Russians in Ukraine no longer identified themselves with the Russian nation.
The return of Crimean Tatars
has resulted in several high-profile clashes over land ownership and employment rights.
Currently many ethnic Russians in Ukraine feel pressured by the state policy of Ukrainization
. Much controversy has surrounded the reduction of schools with Russian as their main language of instruction. In 1989 there were 4633 schools where Russian was the main language of instruction, and by 2001 this number fell to 2001 schools or 11.8% of the total in the country. A significant number of these Russian schools were converted into schools in which there are classes with both Russian and Ukrainian as the language of education. By 2007, 20% of pupils in public schools studied in Russian classes. Some regions such as Rivne Oblast
have no schools with Russian only instruction left, but only Russian classes provided in the mixed Russian-Ukrainian schools. As of May, 2007, only seven schools with Russian as the main language of instruction are left in Kiev, with 17 more mixed language schools totaling 8,000 pupils, with the rest of the pupils attending the schools with Ukrainian being the only language of instruction. Among the latter pupils, 45,700 (or 18% of the total) study the Russian language as a separate subject in the largely Russophone Ukrainian capital, although an estimated 70 percent of Ukraine's population nationwide consider that Russian should be taught at secondary schools along with Ukrainian.
According to the Institute of Sociology surveys conducted yearly between 1995 and 2005, the percentage of respondents who have encountered cases of ethnic-based discrimination against Russians during the preceding year has consistently been low (mostly in single digits), with no noticeable difference when compared with the number of incidents directed against any other nation, including the Ukrainians and the Jews. According to the 2007 Comparative Survey of Ukraine and Europe only 0.1% of Ukrainian residents consider themselves belonging to a group which is discriminated by nationality.
Similarly, the surveys indicate that Russians are not socially distanced in Ukraine. The indicator of the willingness of Ukraine's residents to participate in social contacts of varying degrees of closeness with different ethnic groups (the Bogardus Social Distance Scale
) calculated based on the yearly sociological surveys has been consistently showing that Russians are, on the average, least socially distanced within Ukraine except the Ukrainians themselves. The same survey has shown that, in fact, that Ukrainian people are slightly more comfortable accepting Russians into their families than they are accepting Ukrainians living abroad
. Such social attitude correlates with the political one as the surveys taken yearly between 1997 and 2005 consistently indicated that the attitude to the idea of Ukraine joining the union of Russia and Belarus is more positive (slightly over 50%) then negative (slightly under 30%).
is not official in the country, whereas 38% of the citizens have the opposite position. According to annual surveys by the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences 43.9% to 52.0% of the total population of Ukraine supports the idea of granting the status of state language to Russian language. At the same time, this is not viewed as an important issue by most Ukraine's citizens. On a cross-national survey involving ranking the 30 important political issues, the legal status of the Russian language was ranked 26th, with only 8% of respondents (concentrated primarily in Crimea and Donetsk) feeling that this was an important issue.
Russian continues to dominate in several regions and in nation's business, in leading Ukrainian magazines and other printed media. Russian language in Ukraine
still dominates the everyday life in some areas of the country.
(71.7%) and Autonomous republic of Crimea (58%), and also in some cities and raions: Donetsk
(48.2%), Makiyivka (50.8%, Donetsk Oblast
), Ternivka
(52.9%, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
), Krasnodon
(63.3%), Sverdlovsk (58.7%), Krasnodonskyi (51.7%) and Stanychno-Luhanskyi (61.1%) raions of Luhansk Oblast
, Izmail
(43.7%, Odessa oblast
), Putyvlskyi Raion (51.6%, Sumy Oblast
).
In general the population of ethnic Russians in Ukraine has shown a systematic decrease in all regions, both quantitatively and proportionally since 1989. Several factors have affected this - most Russians lived in urban centres in Soviet times and thus were hit the hardest by the economic hardships of the 1990s. Some chose to emigrate from Ukraine to (mostly) Russia or to the West. Finally some of those who were counted as Russians in Soviet times declared themselves Ukrainian during the last census.
The Russian population was also hit by the factors that affected all the population of Ukraine, such as low birth rate and high death rate.
are Christians
of the Eastern Orthodox Faith
and predominantly belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
, a former Ukrainian exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church
, which received an ecclesiastical Autonomy from the latter on October 27, 1990.
There are small minorities of Old Believers
, notably Lipovans
, as well as Protestants and Catholics among Russians
. In addition, there is a sizable portion of those who consider themselves Atheists.
, political parties that call for closer ties with Russia
received higher percentage of votes in the areas, where Russian-speaking population predominate..png)
Such parties like the Party of Regions
, Communist Party of Ukraine
and the Progressive Socialist Party
are particularly popular in Crimea, Southern and Southeastern regions of Ukraine. In the 2005 election, the mainstream Party of Regions
, whose stronghold is based on Eastern and Southern Ukraine came first with 32.14%, ahead of its two nationally conscious main rivals, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (22.29%) and Our Ukraine Bloc (13.95%), while also Russophile Communist Party of Ukraine
collected 3.66 % and the radically pro-Russian Nataliya Vitrenko Bloc 2.93% coming closest of the small parties to overcoming the 3% barrier. In the 2007 election, the Party of Regions
came first with 34.37% (losing 130.000 votes), the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc second with 31.71% (winning 1.5 million votes), the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc third with 14.15% (losing 238,000 votes), the Communist Party of Ukraine
fourth with 5.39% (winning 327,000 votes) while the Nataliya Vitrenko Bloc dropped to 1.32%.
Although the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc attracts most of its voters from Western Ukrainian, Ukrainian
speaking provinces (Oblasts
), it has in recent years recruited several politicians from Russian
speaking provinces like Crimea
(Lyudmyla Denisova) and Luhansk Oblast
(Natalia Korolevska
).
independence and openly advocate for the restoration of the Russian Empire
. These movements are numerically small but their impact on the society is easy to overestimate due to their sometimes outrageous and vocal activity that generates much of the media coverage and commentary from the highest levels of politicians.
The actions organized by these organizations are most visible in the Ukrainian
part of historic Novorossiya
(New Russia) in the south of Ukraine and in the Crimea
, currently the home of the Russian Navy Black Sea Fleet
. As ethnic Russians
constitute a significant part of the population in these largely Russophone
parts of southern Ukraine
(and a majority in the Crimea), these territories maintain particularly strong historic ties with Russia
on the human level. Thus, a stronger than elsewhere in the country pro-Russian political sentiment makes the area a more fertile ground for the radical pro-Russian movements that are not as common elsewhere in the country.
As of December 2009 clashes between Ukrainian nationalists
and pro-Russian organisations do sometimes take place.
(literally the Breakthrough) and the Eurasian Youth Movement
(ESM). Both movements' registration and legal status have been challenged in courts, the leader of Proryv
, a Russia
n citizen, was expelled from Ukraine, declared Persona non grata
and barred from entering the country again. Alexander Dugin, the Moscow
-based leader of the ESM and his associate Pavel Zariffulin have also been barred from travelling to Ukraine because of their involvement in the activities of these organizations, although bans have been later lifted and reinstated again.
These movements openly state their mission as disintegration of Ukraine and restoration of Russia
within the borders of the former Russian Empire
and, reportedly, have received regular encouragement and monetary support from Russia's politically connected businessmen. These organizations have been known not only for their separatist and pro-Russian activities, but have been also accused of organising massive acts of protest, vandalism and violent attacks at public offices.
Some observers point out the Russian government and the Russian Orthodox Church
's support of these movements and parties in Ukraine, especially in Crimea. The publications and protest actions of these organizations feature strongly pro-Russia
n and radically anti-Western, anti-NATO messages invoking the rhetoric of "Ukrainian-Russian historic unity", "NATO criminality", "conspiracy against the Eastern Orthodox Christianity", and other similar claims.
Some observers link resurgence of radical Russian organizations in Ukraine
with Kremlin
's fear that the Orange Revolution
in Ukraine
could be exported to Russia
, and the fight with that possibility has been put at the forefront of these movements' activities.
has been organizing annual Russian Marches
. The November 2006 "Russian march" in Kiev
, the capital, gathered 40 participants, but after the participants attacked the riot police, it was forced to interfere and several participants from were arrested.
In Odessa
and Crimean cities the November 2006 "Russian marches" drew more participants, with 150-200 participants in Odessa, and 500 in Simferopol
and went more peacefully. The marchers were calling for the Ukrainian
and Russian Orthodox Church
unity as well as the national unity between Russia and Ukraine. In Odessa
the march of about 200 people carried anti-Western, pro-Russian slogans and religious symbols. One of the marchers displayed a clearly visible anti-semitic slogan. Anti-semitic manifestations in these areas are supported, at least in terms of organization and direct financing, from radical nationalist organizations from Russia, where incidence of anti-semitism is higher.
Russian diaspora
The term Russian diaspora refers to the global community of ethnic Russians, usually more specifically those who maintain some kind of connection, even if ephemeral, to the land of their ancestors and maintain their feeling of Russian national identity within a local community.The term "Russian...
in the world. In the 2001 Ukrainian census
Ukrainian Census (2001)
The first Ukrainian Census was carried out by State Statistics Committee of Ukraine on 5 December 2001, twelve years after the last Soviet Union census in 1989....
, 8,334,100 identified themselves as ethnic Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
(17.3% of the total population).
Geography
The ethnic RussianRussians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
population is significant throughout Ukraine ranging from merely a notable fraction of an overall population in the west, to a significant minority in the center and growing in number even further to the east and south.
In the west and the center of the country, the percentage of the Russian population is higher in the cities and industrial centers and much less in the overwhelmingly Ukrainophone rural areas. Due to the traditionally high presence of the Russians in the cities, as well as for the historic reasons, most of the large cities in the center and the south-east of the country (including Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
where Russians amount to 13.1 % of the population) remain largely Russophone
Russophone
A Russophone is literally a speaker of the Russian language either natively or by preference. At the same time the term is used in a more specialized meaning to describe the category of people whose cultural background is associated with Russian language regardless of ethnic and territorial...
to this day.
Novorossiya
Novorossiya is a historic area of lands which established itself solidly after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate by the Russian Empire, but was introduced with the establishment of Novorossiysk Governorate with the capital in Kremenchuk in the mid 18th century. Until that time in both Polish...
(New Russia) and Slobozhanshchina (Sloboda Ukraine) that are now both split between modern Russia and Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. Russians also constitute the majority of the population of the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
, the peninsula now in the very south of Ukraine that was transferred from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...
in 1954 by the decision of the Soviet government.
Early history: Early settlement and Novorossiya
The early Russian ethnic group, the Goriuns resided in Putivl (PutyvlPutyvl
Putyvl or Putivl is a town in north-east Ukraine, in Sumy Oblast. Currently about 20,000 people live in Putyvl.-History:One of the original Siverian towns, Putyvl was first mentioned as early as 1146 as an important fortress contested between Chernigov and Novgorod-Seversky principalities of...
) region (what is modern northern Ukraine) from medieval times. The first new waves of Russian settlers onto Ukrainian territory came in the late 16th century to the empty lands of Slobozhanschyna, in what is now northeastern Ukraine, that the Russian state gained from the Tatars
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...
, although they were outnumbered by Ukrainian peasants escaping harsh exploitative conditions from the west. In 1599 Tsar Boris Godunov
Boris Godunov
Boris Fyodorovich Godunov was de facto regent of Russia from c. 1585 to 1598 and then the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. The end of his reign saw Russia descend into the Time of Troubles.-Early years:...
ordered the construction of Tsareborisov on the banks of Oskol River
Oskol River
Oskol is a river in Russia and Ukraine. It is a left tributary of the Seversky Donets. It is 436 km long, with a drainage basin of 14,680 km²....
, the first city and the first fortress in Eastern Ukraine. To defend the territory from Tatar raids the Russians built the Belgorod
Belgorod
-Twin towns/sister cities:Belgorod is twinned with: Wakefield, England, United Kingdom Herne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia Opole, Poland Vyshhorod, Ukraine Kharkiv, Ukraine-External links:...
defensive line (1635–1658), and Ukrainians started fleeing to be under its defense.
More Russian speakers appeared in northern, central and eastern Ukrainian territories during the late 17th century, following the Cossack Rebellion
Khmelnytsky Uprising
The Khmelnytsky Uprising, was a Cossack rebellion in the Ukraine between the years 1648–1657 which turned into a Ukrainian war of liberation from Poland...
led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky
Bohdan Khmelnytsky
Bohdan Zynoviy Mykhailovych Khmelnytsky was a hetman of the Zaporozhian Cossack Hetmanate of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . He led an uprising against the Commonwealth and its magnates which resulted in the creation of a Cossack state...
. The Uprising led to a massive movement of Ukrainian settlers to the Slobozhanschyna region, which converted it from a sparsely inhabited frontier area to one of the major populated regions of the Tsardom of Russia
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia was the name of the centralized Russian state from Ivan IV's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 till Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721.From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 a year...
. Following the Pereyaslav Rada the modern northern and eastern parts of Ukraine entered into the Tsardom of Russia. This brought the first significant, but still small, wave of Russian settlers into central Ukraine (primarily several thousand soldiers stationed in garrisons, out of a population of approximately 1.2 million non-Russians).
Crimean Khanate
Crimean Khanate, or Khanate of Crimea , was a state ruled by Crimean Tatars from 1441 to 1783. Its native name was . Its khans were the patrilineal descendants of Toqa Temür, the thirteenth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan...
. The systematic colonization of lands in what became known as Novorossiya
Novorossiya
Novorossiya is a historic area of lands which established itself solidly after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate by the Russian Empire, but was introduced with the establishment of Novorossiysk Governorate with the capital in Kremenchuk in the mid 18th century. Until that time in both Polish...
(mainly Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
, Taurida and around Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
) began. Migrants from many ethnic groups (predominantly Ukrainians and Russians from Russia proper) came to this area. At the same time the discovery of coal in the Donets Basin
Donets Basin
Donbas or Donbass , full rarely-used name Donets Basin , is a historical, economic and cultural region of eastern Ukraine. Originally a coal mining area, it has become a heavily industrialised territory suffering from urban decay and industrial pollution.-Geography:Donbas covers three...
also marked the commencement of a large-scale industrialization and an influx of workers from other parts of the Russian Empire.
Nearly all of the major cities of the southern and eastern Ukraine were established in this period: Aleksandrovsk (now Zaporizhia
Zaporizhia
Zaporizhia or Zaporozhye [formerly Alexandrovsk ] is a city in southeastern Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative center of the Zaporizhia Oblast...
; 1770), Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipropetrovsk
Dnipropetrovsk
Dnipropetrovsk or Dnepropetrovsk formerly Yekaterinoslav is Ukraine's third largest city with one million inhabitants. It is located southeast of Ukraine's capital Kiev on the Dnieper River, in the south-central region of the country...
; 1776), Kherson
Kherson
Kherson is a city in southern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Kherson Oblast , and is designated as its own separate raion within the oblast. Kherson is an important port on the Black Sea and Dnieper River, and the home of a major ship-building industry...
and Mariupol
Mariupol
Mariupol , formerly known as Zhdanov , is a port city in southeastern Ukraine. It is located on the coast of the Azov Sea, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Mariupol is the largest city in Priazovye - a geographical region around Azov Sea, divided by Russia and Ukraine - and is also a popular sea...
(1778), Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
(1783), Simferopol
Simferopol
-Russian Empire and Civil War:The city was renamed Simferopol in 1784 after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate to the Russian Empire by Catherine II of Russia. The name Simferopol is derived from the Greek, Συμφερόπολις , translated as "the city of usefulness." In 1802, Simferopol became the...
and Novoaleksandrovka (Melitopol
Melitopol
Melitopol is a city in the Zaporizhia Oblast of the southeastern Ukraine. It is situated on the Molochna River that flows through the eastern edge of the city and into the Molochnyi Liman, which eventually joins the Sea of Azov....
) (1784), Nikolayev (Mykolaiv
Mykolaiv
Mykolaiv , also known as Nikolayev , is a city in southern Ukraine, administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv is the main ship building center of the Black Sea, and, arguably, the whole Eastern Europe.-Name of city:...
; 1789), Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
(1794), Lugansk (Luhansk
Luhansk
Luhansk also known as Lugansk is a city in southeastern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Luhansk Oblast . The city itself is also designated as its own separate municipality within the oblast...
; foundation of Luhansk plant in 1795).
Both Russians and Ukrainians made the bulk of the migrants — 31.8% and 42.0 % respectively. The population of Novorossiya eventually became intermixed. and with the Russification
Russification
Russification is an adoption of the Russian language or some other Russian attributes by non-Russian communities...
being the state policy, the Russian identity dominated in mixed families and communities. The Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
officially regarded Ukrainians, Russians and Belarusians as Little
Little Russia
Little Russia , sometimes Little or Lesser Rus’ , is a historical political and geographical term in the Russian language referring to most of the territory of modern-day Ukraine before the 20th century. It is similar to the Polish term Małopolska of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
, Great
Great Russia
Great Russia is an obsolete name formerly applied to the territories of "Russia proper", the land that formed the core of Muscovy and, later, Russia...
and White Russia
White Russia
White Russia or White Ruthenia is a name that has historically been applied to a part of the wider region of Ruthenia or Rus', most often to that which roughly corresponds to the eastern part of present-day Belarus including the cities of Polatsk, Vitsyebsk and Mahiliou. In English, the use of the...
ns, which, according to the theory officially accepted in the Imperial Russia, belonged to a single Russian nation, the descendants of the people of the Rus'
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus was a medieval polity in Eastern Europe, from the late 9th to the mid 13th century, when it disintegrated under the pressure of the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240....
.
In the beginning of the 20th century the Russians were the largest ethnic group in the following cities: Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
(54,2 %), Kharkov
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
(63,1 %), Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
(49,09 %), Nikolaev
Mykolaiv
Mykolaiv , also known as Nikolayev , is a city in southern Ukraine, administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv is the main ship building center of the Black Sea, and, arguably, the whole Eastern Europe.-Name of city:...
(66,33 %), Mariupol
Mariupol
Mariupol , formerly known as Zhdanov , is a port city in southeastern Ukraine. It is located on the coast of the Azov Sea, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Mariupol is the largest city in Priazovye - a geographical region around Azov Sea, divided by Russia and Ukraine - and is also a popular sea...
(63,22 %), Lugansk (68,16 %), Berdiansk
Berdiansk
Berdyansk is a port city in the Zaporizhia Oblast of south-east Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Berdyansky Raion , the city itself is directly subordinate to the oblast, and is located on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov.The current estimated population is around 125,000...
(66,05 %), Kherson
Kherson
Kherson is a city in southern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Kherson Oblast , and is designated as its own separate raion within the oblast. Kherson is an important port on the Black Sea and Dnieper River, and the home of a major ship-building industry...
(47,21 %), Melitopol
Melitopol
Melitopol is a city in the Zaporizhia Oblast of the southeastern Ukraine. It is situated on the Molochna River that flows through the eastern edge of the city and into the Molochnyi Liman, which eventually joins the Sea of Azov....
(42,8 %), Yekaterinoslav (41,78 %), Yelisavetgrad
Kirovohrad
Kirovohrad , formerly Yelisavetgrad, is a city in central Ukraine. It is located on the Inhul River. It is a motorway junction. Pop. 239,400 ....
(34,64 %), Pavlograd
Pavlohrad
Pavlohrad or Pavlograd is an indistrial city in eastern Ukraine, located within the Dnipropetrovs'ka oblast, and had a population of 118,800 in 2001. The rivers of Vovcha , Hnizdka , Kocherha flow through Pavlohrad. The area of the city is . There are 20 schools and 1 lyceum in the city.In 1930...
(34,36 %), Simferopol
Simferopol
-Russian Empire and Civil War:The city was renamed Simferopol in 1784 after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate to the Russian Empire by Catherine II of Russia. The name Simferopol is derived from the Greek, Συμφερόπολις , translated as "the city of usefulness." In 1802, Simferopol became the...
(45,64 %), Feodosiya (46,84 %), Yalta
Yalta
Yalta is a city in Crimea, southern Ukraine, on the north coast of the Black Sea.The city is located on the site of an ancient Greek colony, said to have been founded by Greek sailors who were looking for a safe shore on which to land. It is situated on a deep bay facing south towards the Black...
(66,17 %), Kerch
Kerch
Kerch is a city on the Kerch Peninsula of eastern Crimea, an important industrial, transport and tourist centre of Ukraine. Kerch, founded 2600 years ago, is considered as one of the most ancient cities in Ukraine.-Ancient times:...
(57,8 %), Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
(63,46 %), Cuguev
Chuhuiv
Chuhuiv is a city in the Kharkiv Oblast of eastern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Chuhuivskyi Raion , the city itself is directly subordinate to the oblast, and is located at around ....
(86 %).
October Revolution and Ukrainian SSR
Ukraine was a battlegroundUkraine after the Russian Revolution
Ukrainian territory was fought over by various factions after the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the First World War, which added the collapse of Austria-Hungary to that of the Imperial Russia. The crumbling of the empires had a great effect on the Ukrainian nationalist movement and in the short...
during the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
(1918–1922). Although macroscopically Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
was fought over by several powers: Austro-Hungary, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
; Ukrainian People's Republic
Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic or Ukrainian National Republic was a republic that was declared in part of the territory of modern Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, eventually headed by Symon Petliura.-Revolutionary Wave:...
, the Anarchist Black Army
Black Army
Black Army can refer to several different groups and affiliations:* Several anarchist factions of the Russian Civil War, also known as the Black Guards* Black Army of Hungary was the name of the royal army of Matthias Corvinus, a 15th century king of Hungary...
as well as the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
and the White Army, the population of New Russia by large allied themselves only with the latter three. A large portion of men that made up the armies of Denikin
Anton Ivanovich Denikin
Anton Ivanovich Denikin was Lieutenant General of the Imperial Russian Army and one of the foremost generals of the White movement in the Russian Civil War.- Childhood :...
and Wrangel
Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel
Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel or Vrangel was an officer in the Imperial Russian army and later commanding general of the anti-Bolshevik White Army in Southern Russia in the later stages of the Russian Civil War.-Life:Wrangel was born in Mukuliai, Kovno Governorate in the Russian Empire...
came from New Russian volunteers (see Volunteer Army
Volunteer Army
The Volunteer Army was an anti-Bolshevik army in South Russia during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1920....
.) Nevertheless, most of the people in New Russia supported the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
and a big part supported the Black Army
Black Army
Black Army can refer to several different groups and affiliations:* Several anarchist factions of the Russian Civil War, also known as the Black Guards* Black Army of Hungary was the name of the royal army of Matthias Corvinus, a 15th century king of Hungary...
, because most of the residents of the area were peasants and workers, classes that were opposed to the Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
's regime.
The first Russian Empire Census
Russian Empire Census
The Russian Imperial Census of 1897 was the first and the only census carried out in the Russian Empire . It recorded demographic data as of ....
, conducted in 1897, showed extensive usage (and in some cases dominance) of the Little Russia
Little Russia
Little Russia , sometimes Little or Lesser Rus’ , is a historical political and geographical term in the Russian language referring to most of the territory of modern-day Ukraine before the 20th century. It is similar to the Polish term Małopolska of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
n, a contemporary term of the Ukrainian language
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
, in the nine south-western Governorates and the Kuban
Kuban
Kuban is a geographic region of Southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Don Steppe, Volga Delta and the Caucasus...
. Thus, when the Central Rada officials were outlining the future borders of the new Ukrainian state they took the results of the census in regards to the language and religion as determining factors. The ethnographic borders of Ukraine thus turned out to be almost twice as large as the original Cossack Hetmanate
Cossack Hetmanate
The Hetmanate or Zaporizhian Host was the Ruthenian Cossack state in the Central Ukraine between 1649 and 1782.The Hetmanate was founded by first Ukrainian hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky during the Khmelnytsky Uprising . In 1654 it pledged its allegiance to Muscovy during the Council of Pereyaslav,...
incorporated into Russia in the 17th century.
The October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
also found its echo amongst the extensive working class and several Soviet Republics were formed by Bolsheviks of Ukraine: Ukrainian People's Socialist Republic, Soviet Socialist Republic of Taurida, Odessa Soviet Republic
Odessa Soviet Republic
Odessa Soviet Republic was a short-lived Soviet republic formed out of parts the Kherson and Bessarabia Governorates of the former Russian Empire....
and the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Republic
Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic
The Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic was a short-lived and never recognized Soviet Republic founded on 12 February 1918 and sought an independence from the Soviet Ukraine...
.
The Russian SFSR government supported the military intervention against the Ukrainian People's Republic
Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic or Ukrainian National Republic was a republic that was declared in part of the territory of modern Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, eventually headed by Symon Petliura.-Revolutionary Wave:...
, which at different periods controlled most of the territory of present-day Ukraine with the exception of Crimea and Western Ukraine. Although there were differences between Ukrainian Bolsheviks initially, which resulted in proclamation of several Soviet Republics in 1917, later, due in large part to pressure from Lenin and other Bolshevik leaders, one Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed. The Ukrainian SSR
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...
was de jure
De jure
De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".De jure = 'Legally', De facto = 'In fact'....
a separate state until the formation of the USSR in 1922 and survived until the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Lenin insisted that ignoring the national question in Ukraine would endanger the support of the Revolution among Ukrainian population and thus new borders of the Soviet Ukraine were established to the extent that the Ukrainian People's Republic
Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic or Ukrainian National Republic was a republic that was declared in part of the territory of modern Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, eventually headed by Symon Petliura.-Revolutionary Wave:...
was claiming in 1918. The new borders completely included Novorossiya
Novorossiya
Novorossiya is a historic area of lands which established itself solidly after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate by the Russian Empire, but was introduced with the establishment of Novorossiysk Governorate with the capital in Kremenchuk in the mid 18th century. Until that time in both Polish...
(including the short-lived Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic
Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic
The Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic was a short-lived and never recognized Soviet Republic founded on 12 February 1918 and sought an independence from the Soviet Ukraine...
) and other neighboring provinces, which contained substantial number of ethnic Russians.
Early Soviet times
In his 1923 speech devoted to the national and ethnic issues in the party and state affairs, Stalin identified several obstacles in implementing the national program of the party. Those were the "dominant-nation chauvinism", "economic and cultural inequality" of the nationalities and the "survivals of nationalism among a number of nations which have borne the heavy yoke of national oppression".In Ukraine's case, both threats came, respectfully, from the south and the east, Novorossiya
Novorossiya
Novorossiya is a historic area of lands which established itself solidly after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate by the Russian Empire, but was introduced with the establishment of Novorossiysk Governorate with the capital in Kremenchuk in the mid 18th century. Until that time in both Polish...
with historically strong Russian cultural influence, and the traditional Ukrainian centre and west. These considerations brought about a policy of Ukrainization
Ukrainization
Ukrainization is a policy of increasing the usage and facilitating the development of the Ukrainian language and promoting other elements of Ukrainian culture, in various spheres of public life such as education, publishing, government and religion.The term is used, most prominently, for the...
, to simultaneously break the remains of the Great Russia
Great Russia
Great Russia is an obsolete name formerly applied to the territories of "Russia proper", the land that formed the core of Muscovy and, later, Russia...
n attitude and to gain popularity among the Ukrainian population, thus recognizing their dominance of the republic.
Ukrainian language was mandatory for most jobs, and its teaching became compulsory in every school.
By the early-1930s attitudes towards the policy of Ukrainization had changed within the Soviet leadership. In 1933 Stalin declared that local nationalism was the main threat to Soviet unity. Consequently, a lot of changes introduced during the Ukrainization period were reversed, Russian language schools, libraries and newspapers were restored and even increased in number. Changes were brought territorially as well, forcing the Ukrainian SSR to cede some territories to the RSFSR. During this period parents in the Ukrainian SSR
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...
could choose to send their children whose native language was not Ukrainian to schools with Russian as the primary language of instruction.
Latter Soviet times
The territory of Ukraine was a battlefield during the World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and its population, including Russians, significantly decreased. The infrastructure was heavily damaged and it required human and capital resources to be rebuilt. This compounded with depopulation caused by two famines of 1931-1932
Holodomor
The Holodomor was a man-made famine in the Ukrainian SSR between 1932 and 1933. During the famine, which is also known as the "terror-famine in Ukraine" and "famine-genocide in Ukraine", millions of Ukrainians died of starvation in a peacetime catastrophe unprecedented in the history of...
and a third in 1947 to leave the territory with a greatly reduced population. A large portion of the wave of new migrants to industrialize, integrate and Sovietize the recently acquired western Ukrainian territories were ethnic Russians who mostly settled around industrial centers and military garrisons. This increased the proportion of the Russian speaking population.
Near the end of the War, the entire population of Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group that originally resided in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...
(numbering up to a quarter of a million) was expelled from their homeland in Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
to Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
, under accusations of collaborations with Germans. The Crimea was repopulated by the new wave of Russian and Ukrainian settlers and the Russian proportion of the population of Crimea went up significantly (from 47.7% in 1937 to 61.6% in 1993) and the Ukrainian proportion doubled (12.8% in 1937 and 23.6% in 1993).
The Ukrainian language remained a mandatory subject of study in all Russian schools, but in many government offices preference was given to the Russian language that gave an additional impetus to the advancement of Russification
Russification
Russification is an adoption of the Russian language or some other Russian attributes by non-Russian communities...
. The 1979 census showed that only one third of ethnic Russians spoke the Ukrainian language fluently.
In 1954, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet was a Soviet governmental institution – a permanent body of the Supreme Soviets . This body was of the all-Union level , as well as in all Soviet republics and autonomous republics...
issued the decree on the transfer of the Crimean Oblast from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...
. This action increased the ethnic Russian population of Ukraine by almost a million people. Many Russian politicians considered the transfer to be controversial. Controversies and legality of the transfer remained a sore point in relations between Ukraine and Russia for a few years, and in particular in the internal politics in Crimea. However, in a 1997 treaty between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, Russia recognized Ukraine's borders, and accepted Ukraine's sovereignty over Crimea.
Ukraine after the dissolution of the Soviet Union
See also: Anti-Russian sentiment in UkraineUkraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
.
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
became an independent state. The independence was supported by the referendum
Ukrainian independence referendum, 1991
A referendum on the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine took place in Ukraine on December 1, 1991. The only question of the referendum was: "Do you support the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine?" – with the text of the Declaration as a preamble to the question...
in all regions of Ukrainian SSR
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...
, including in those featuring large Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
populations. A study of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine found that in 1991 75% of ethnic Russians in Ukraine no longer identified themselves with the Russian nation.
The return of Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group that originally resided in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...
has resulted in several high-profile clashes over land ownership and employment rights.
Currently many ethnic Russians in Ukraine feel pressured by the state policy of Ukrainization
Ukrainization
Ukrainization is a policy of increasing the usage and facilitating the development of the Ukrainian language and promoting other elements of Ukrainian culture, in various spheres of public life such as education, publishing, government and religion.The term is used, most prominently, for the...
. Much controversy has surrounded the reduction of schools with Russian as their main language of instruction. In 1989 there were 4633 schools where Russian was the main language of instruction, and by 2001 this number fell to 2001 schools or 11.8% of the total in the country. A significant number of these Russian schools were converted into schools in which there are classes with both Russian and Ukrainian as the language of education. By 2007, 20% of pupils in public schools studied in Russian classes. Some regions such as Rivne Oblast
Rivne Oblast
Rivne Oblast is an oblast of Ukraine. Its administrative center is Rivne. The area of the region is 20,100 km²; its population is 1.2 million...
have no schools with Russian only instruction left, but only Russian classes provided in the mixed Russian-Ukrainian schools. As of May, 2007, only seven schools with Russian as the main language of instruction are left in Kiev, with 17 more mixed language schools totaling 8,000 pupils, with the rest of the pupils attending the schools with Ukrainian being the only language of instruction. Among the latter pupils, 45,700 (or 18% of the total) study the Russian language as a separate subject in the largely Russophone Ukrainian capital, although an estimated 70 percent of Ukraine's population nationwide consider that Russian should be taught at secondary schools along with Ukrainian.
The Lack of Discrimination
In total, according to 2007 country-wide survey by the Institute of Sociology only 0.5 % of the respondents describe as belonging to a group that faces discrimination by language. Furthermore in a poll held October 2008 42.8% of the Ukrainian respondents said they regard Russia as “very good” while 44.9% said their attitude was “good" (87% positive).According to the Institute of Sociology surveys conducted yearly between 1995 and 2005, the percentage of respondents who have encountered cases of ethnic-based discrimination against Russians during the preceding year has consistently been low (mostly in single digits), with no noticeable difference when compared with the number of incidents directed against any other nation, including the Ukrainians and the Jews. According to the 2007 Comparative Survey of Ukraine and Europe only 0.1% of Ukrainian residents consider themselves belonging to a group which is discriminated by nationality.
Similarly, the surveys indicate that Russians are not socially distanced in Ukraine. The indicator of the willingness of Ukraine's residents to participate in social contacts of varying degrees of closeness with different ethnic groups (the Bogardus Social Distance Scale
Bogardus Social Distance Scale
The Bogardus social distance scale is a psychological testing scale created by Emory S. Bogardus to empirically measure people's willingness to participate in social contacts of varying degrees of closeness with members of diverse social groups, such as racial and ethnic groups.The scale asks...
) calculated based on the yearly sociological surveys has been consistently showing that Russians are, on the average, least socially distanced within Ukraine except the Ukrainians themselves. The same survey has shown that, in fact, that Ukrainian people are slightly more comfortable accepting Russians into their families than they are accepting Ukrainians living abroad
Ukrainian diaspora
The Ukrainian diaspora is the global community of ethnic Ukrainians, especially those who maintain some kind of connection, even if ephemeral, to the land of their ancestors and maintain their feeling of Ukrainian national identity within their own local community.-1608 To 1880:After the loss...
. Such social attitude correlates with the political one as the surveys taken yearly between 1997 and 2005 consistently indicated that the attitude to the idea of Ukraine joining the union of Russia and Belarus is more positive (slightly over 50%) then negative (slightly under 30%).
Russian language
According to 2006 survey by Research & Branding Group (Donetsk) 39% of Ukrainian citizens think that the rights of the Russophones are violated because the Russian languageRussian language in Ukraine
Russian is a minority language in Ukraine It is the most common first language in Donbass and Crimea regions, the predominant language in large cities in the East and South of the country...
is not official in the country, whereas 38% of the citizens have the opposite position. According to annual surveys by the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences 43.9% to 52.0% of the total population of Ukraine supports the idea of granting the status of state language to Russian language. At the same time, this is not viewed as an important issue by most Ukraine's citizens. On a cross-national survey involving ranking the 30 important political issues, the legal status of the Russian language was ranked 26th, with only 8% of respondents (concentrated primarily in Crimea and Donetsk) feeling that this was an important issue.
Russian continues to dominate in several regions and in nation's business, in leading Ukrainian magazines and other printed media. Russian language in Ukraine
Russian language in Ukraine
Russian is a minority language in Ukraine It is the most common first language in Donbass and Crimea regions, the predominant language in large cities in the East and South of the country...
still dominates the everyday life in some areas of the country.
Trends
According to 2001 census the Russians are the largest ethnic group in SevastopolSevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
(71.7%) and Autonomous republic of Crimea (58%), and also in some cities and raions: Donetsk
Donetsk
Donetsk , is a large city in eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the economic and cultural Donets Basin region...
(48.2%), Makiyivka (50.8%, Donetsk Oblast
Donetsk Oblast
Donetsk Oblast is an oblast of eastern Ukraine. Its administrative center is Donetsk. Historically, the province is an important part of the Donbas region...
), Ternivka
Ternivka
Ternivka or Ternovka is a city of oblast subordination in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast of Ukraine. Population is 29,226 .-Industries:...
(52.9%, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast is an oblast of central Ukraine, the most important industrial region of the country. Its administrative center is Dnipropetrovsk....
), Krasnodon
Krasnodon
Krasnodon is a city in the Luhansk Oblast of south-eastern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Krasnodonskyi Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast....
(63.3%), Sverdlovsk (58.7%), Krasnodonskyi (51.7%) and Stanychno-Luhanskyi (61.1%) raions of Luhansk Oblast
Luhansk Oblast
Luhansk Oblast ) is the easternmost oblast of Ukraine. Its administrative center is Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the name Voroshilovgrad Oblast in honor of Kliment Voroshilov....
, Izmail
Izmail
Izmail is a historic town near the Danube river in the Odessa Oblast of south-western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Izmail Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast....
(43.7%, Odessa oblast
Odessa Oblast
Odesa Oblast, also written as Odessa Oblast , is the southernmost and largest oblast of south-western Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Odessa.-History:...
), Putyvlskyi Raion (51.6%, Sumy Oblast
Sumy Oblast
Sumy Oblast is an oblast in the northeastern part of Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Sumy.Other important cities within the oblast include Konotop, Okhtyrka, Romny, and Shostka....
).
| Census year | Total population of Ukraine |
Russians | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1922 | 29,018,187 | 2,677,166 | 9.2% |
| 1939 | 30,946,218 | 4,175,299 | 13.4% |
| 1959 | 41,869,046 | 7,090,813 | 16.9% |
| 1970 | 47,126,517 | 9,126,331 | 19.3% |
| 1979 | 49,609,333 | 10,471,602 | 21,1% |
| 1989 | 51,452,034 | 11,355,582 | 22.1% |
| 2001 | 48,457,000 | 8,334,100 | 17.2% |
In general the population of ethnic Russians in Ukraine has shown a systematic decrease in all regions, both quantitatively and proportionally since 1989. Several factors have affected this - most Russians lived in urban centres in Soviet times and thus were hit the hardest by the economic hardships of the 1990s. Some chose to emigrate from Ukraine to (mostly) Russia or to the West. Finally some of those who were counted as Russians in Soviet times declared themselves Ukrainian during the last census.
The Russian population was also hit by the factors that affected all the population of Ukraine, such as low birth rate and high death rate.
Numbers
2001 census showed that 95.9% of Russians in Ukraine consider the Russian language to be native for them, 3.9% named the Ukrainian to be their native language. The majority, 59.6% of Ukrainian Russians were born in Ukraine. They constitute 22.4% of all urban population and 6.9 % of rural population in the country. Women make up 55.1 % of Russians, men are 44.9%. The average age of Russians in Ukraine is 41.9 years. The imbalance in sexual and age structure intensifies in western and central regions. In these regions the Russians are concentrated in the industrial centers, particularly the oblast centres.Religion
The majority of the RussiansRussians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
are Christians
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
of the Eastern Orthodox Faith
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
and predominantly belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is an autonomous Church of Eastern Orthodoxy in Ukraine, under the ecclesiastic jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate...
, a former Ukrainian exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
, which received an ecclesiastical Autonomy from the latter on October 27, 1990.
There are small minorities of Old Believers
Old Believers
In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66...
, notably Lipovans
Lipovans
Lipovans or Lippovans are the Old Believers, mostly of Russian ethnic origin, who settled in the Moldavian Principality, in Dobruja and Eastern Muntenia...
, as well as Protestants and Catholics among Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
. In addition, there is a sizable portion of those who consider themselves Atheists.
Elections
Political parties whose electoral platforms are crafted specifically to cater to the Russian voters' sentiments fared exceptionally well. In several of Ukraine's electionsElections in Ukraine
Elections in Ukraine gives information on election and election results in Ukraine.Ukraine elects on national level a head of state and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people...
, political parties that call for closer ties with Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
received higher percentage of votes in the areas, where Russian-speaking population predominate.
Party of Regions
The Party of Regions is an Ukrainian political party created on October 26, 1997 just prior to the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary elections under the name of Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine. It was reformed later in 2001 when the party united with several others...
, Communist Party of Ukraine
Communist Party of Ukraine
The Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine, currently led by Petro Symonenko.The party fights the Ukrainian national self-determination by identifying any Ukrainian national parties as the National-Fascist ones The Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine,...
and the Progressive Socialist Party
Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine
-Ideology:The party favoures Ukraine's full-scale entry in the Eurasian Economic Community ; the protection of the non-aligned status of Ukraine; abolition of NATO exercises in Ukraine; giving the Russian language status as official language along with Ukrainian; annulment of former President...
are particularly popular in Crimea, Southern and Southeastern regions of Ukraine. In the 2005 election, the mainstream Party of Regions
Party of Regions
The Party of Regions is an Ukrainian political party created on October 26, 1997 just prior to the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary elections under the name of Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine. It was reformed later in 2001 when the party united with several others...
, whose stronghold is based on Eastern and Southern Ukraine came first with 32.14%, ahead of its two nationally conscious main rivals, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (22.29%) and Our Ukraine Bloc (13.95%), while also Russophile Communist Party of Ukraine
Communist Party of Ukraine
The Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine, currently led by Petro Symonenko.The party fights the Ukrainian national self-determination by identifying any Ukrainian national parties as the National-Fascist ones The Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine,...
collected 3.66 % and the radically pro-Russian Nataliya Vitrenko Bloc 2.93% coming closest of the small parties to overcoming the 3% barrier. In the 2007 election, the Party of Regions
Party of Regions
The Party of Regions is an Ukrainian political party created on October 26, 1997 just prior to the 1998 Ukrainian parliamentary elections under the name of Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine. It was reformed later in 2001 when the party united with several others...
came first with 34.37% (losing 130.000 votes), the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc second with 31.71% (winning 1.5 million votes), the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc third with 14.15% (losing 238,000 votes), the Communist Party of Ukraine
Communist Party of Ukraine
The Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine, currently led by Petro Symonenko.The party fights the Ukrainian national self-determination by identifying any Ukrainian national parties as the National-Fascist ones The Communist Party of Ukraine is a political party in Ukraine,...
fourth with 5.39% (winning 327,000 votes) while the Nataliya Vitrenko Bloc dropped to 1.32%.
Although the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc attracts most of its voters from Western Ukrainian, Ukrainian
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
speaking provinces (Oblasts
Administrative divisions of Ukraine
Ukraine is subdivided into 24 oblasts , one autonomous republic, and two "cities with special status".- Overview :...
), it has in recent years recruited several politicians from Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
speaking provinces like Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
(Lyudmyla Denisova) and Luhansk Oblast
Luhansk Oblast
Luhansk Oblast ) is the easternmost oblast of Ukraine. Its administrative center is Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the name Voroshilovgrad Oblast in honor of Kliment Voroshilov....
(Natalia Korolevska
Natalia Korolevska
Natalia Yuriivna Korolevska is a Ukrainian politician and member of the Verkhovna Rada .- Biography :Korolevska was born in the former USSR in 1975, her father was a miner, her mother a teacher...
).
Radical pro-Russian movements in Ukraine
Whereas there are several political parties and movements in Ukraine that advocate a moderate pro-Russian policy, there are also a few pro-Russian political organizations that are considered radical by observers. Many of them state their agenda as an opposition to UkrainianUkraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
independence and openly advocate for the restoration of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. These movements are numerically small but their impact on the society is easy to overestimate due to their sometimes outrageous and vocal activity that generates much of the media coverage and commentary from the highest levels of politicians.
The actions organized by these organizations are most visible in the Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
part of historic Novorossiya
Novorossiya
Novorossiya is a historic area of lands which established itself solidly after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate by the Russian Empire, but was introduced with the establishment of Novorossiysk Governorate with the capital in Kremenchuk in the mid 18th century. Until that time in both Polish...
(New Russia) in the south of Ukraine and in the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
, currently the home of the Russian Navy Black Sea Fleet
Black Sea Fleet
The Black Sea Fleet is a large operational-strategic sub-unit of the Russian Navy, operating in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea since the late 18th century. It is based in various harbors of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov....
. As ethnic Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
constitute a significant part of the population in these largely Russophone
Russophone
A Russophone is literally a speaker of the Russian language either natively or by preference. At the same time the term is used in a more specialized meaning to describe the category of people whose cultural background is associated with Russian language regardless of ethnic and territorial...
parts of southern Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
(and a majority in the Crimea), these territories maintain particularly strong historic ties with Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
on the human level. Thus, a stronger than elsewhere in the country pro-Russian political sentiment makes the area a more fertile ground for the radical pro-Russian movements that are not as common elsewhere in the country.
As of December 2009 clashes between Ukrainian nationalists
Ukrainian nationalism
Ukrainian nationalism refers to the Ukrainian version of nationalism.Although the current Ukrainian state emerged fairly recently, some historians, such as Mykhailo Hrushevskyi, Orest Subtelny and Paul Magosci have cited the medieval state of Kievan Rus' as an early precedents of specifically...
and pro-Russian organisations do sometimes take place.
Organizations
Among such movements are the youth organizations, the ProryvProryv
Proriv is a pro-Russian Eurasianist international youth organization which has branches in the non-recognized countries of Transnistria , South Ossetia, Abkhazia and in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in Ukraine.-See also:* Crimean anti-NATO...
(literally the Breakthrough) and the Eurasian Youth Movement
Eurasian Youth Union
Eurasian Youth Union is a Russian political organization, the youth wing of the Eurasia Party headed by Aleksandr Dugin. The organization has branches in several countries...
(ESM). Both movements' registration and legal status have been challenged in courts, the leader of Proryv
Proryv
Proriv is a pro-Russian Eurasianist international youth organization which has branches in the non-recognized countries of Transnistria , South Ossetia, Abkhazia and in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in Ukraine.-See also:* Crimean anti-NATO...
, a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n citizen, was expelled from Ukraine, declared Persona non grata
Persona non grata
Persona non grata , literally meaning "an unwelcome person", is a legal term used in diplomacy that indicates a proscription against a person entering the country...
and barred from entering the country again. Alexander Dugin, the Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
-based leader of the ESM and his associate Pavel Zariffulin have also been barred from travelling to Ukraine because of their involvement in the activities of these organizations, although bans have been later lifted and reinstated again.
These movements openly state their mission as disintegration of Ukraine and restoration of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
within the borders of the former Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
and, reportedly, have received regular encouragement and monetary support from Russia's politically connected businessmen. These organizations have been known not only for their separatist and pro-Russian activities, but have been also accused of organising massive acts of protest, vandalism and violent attacks at public offices.
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
's support of these movements and parties in Ukraine, especially in Crimea. The publications and protest actions of these organizations feature strongly pro-Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n and radically anti-Western, anti-NATO messages invoking the rhetoric of "Ukrainian-Russian historic unity", "NATO criminality", "conspiracy against the Eastern Orthodox Christianity", and other similar claims.
Some observers link resurgence of radical Russian organizations in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
with Kremlin
Kremlin
A kremlin , same root as in kremen is a major fortified central complex found in historic Russian cities. This word is often used to refer to the best-known one, the Moscow Kremlin, or metonymically to the government that is based there...
's fear that the Orange Revolution
Orange Revolution
The Orange Revolution was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate aftermath of the run-off vote of the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election which was claimed to be marred by massive corruption, voter...
in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
could be exported to Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and the fight with that possibility has been put at the forefront of these movements' activities.
"Russian marches"
As a branch of a similar Russian organization the ESMEurasian Youth Union
Eurasian Youth Union is a Russian political organization, the youth wing of the Eurasia Party headed by Aleksandr Dugin. The organization has branches in several countries...
has been organizing annual Russian Marches
2006 Russian March
The 2006 Russian March was an extensive enterprise on organizing the wide-ranging nationalist public mass demonstration, one of annual Russian marches in several major Russian cities under the slogan "it's our country", attached to November 4, 2006, the Day of National Unity...
. The November 2006 "Russian march" in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, the capital, gathered 40 participants, but after the participants attacked the riot police, it was forced to interfere and several participants from were arrested.
In Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
and Crimean cities the November 2006 "Russian marches" drew more participants, with 150-200 participants in Odessa, and 500 in Simferopol
Simferopol
-Russian Empire and Civil War:The city was renamed Simferopol in 1784 after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate to the Russian Empire by Catherine II of Russia. The name Simferopol is derived from the Greek, Συμφερόπολις , translated as "the city of usefulness." In 1802, Simferopol became the...
and went more peacefully. The marchers were calling for the Ukrainian
History of Christianity in Ukraine
The History of Christianity in Ukraine dates back to the earliest centuries of the apostolic church. It has remained the dominant religion in the country since its acceptance in 988 by Vladimir the Great , who instated it as the state religion of Kievan Rus', a medieval East Slavic state.Although...
and Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
unity as well as the national unity between Russia and Ukraine. In Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
the march of about 200 people carried anti-Western, pro-Russian slogans and religious symbols. One of the marchers displayed a clearly visible anti-semitic slogan. Anti-semitic manifestations in these areas are supported, at least in terms of organization and direct financing, from radical nationalist organizations from Russia, where incidence of anti-semitism is higher.
See also
- Famous Ukrainians of Russian ethnicity
- Russian language in UkraineRussian language in UkraineRussian is a minority language in Ukraine It is the most common first language in Donbass and Crimea regions, the predominant language in large cities in the East and South of the country...
- Demographics of UkraineDemographics of UkraineThe Demographics of Ukraine is about the demographic features of the population of Ukraine, including population growth, population density, ethnicity, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population....
- Demographic history of Crimea
- Russian Cultural Center in LvivRussian Cultural Center in LvivRussian Cultural Center in Lviv is an organization of Russian culture in Lviv, the only organization in this topic in West-Ukraine. Situated on No. 1-a Korolenko Street, near the city center of Lviv, in western Ukraine...
- Anti-Russian sentiment in Ukraine
- Ukrainians in RussiaUkrainians in RussiaThe Ukrainians in Russia make up the largest single Ukrainian diaspora of the Ukrainian people. Officially there are 2,942,961 Ukrainians living in Russia or just over 2% of the total population making them the third largest ethnic group after ethnic Russians and Tatars in the Russian...
- Polish minority in UkrainePolish minority in UkraineThe Polish minority in Ukraine officially numbers about 144,130 , of whom 21,094 speak Polish as their first language. The history of Polish settlement in current territory of Ukraine dates back to 1030–31...
- Human Rights Public Movement "Russian-speaking UkraineRussian-speaking UkraineThe All-Ukrainian Non-government Organization “Human Rights Public Movement “Russian-speaking Ukraine” was founded on 1 March 2008 in Severodonetsk, Luhansk region during the II All-Ukrainian congress of deputies of all-level councils, and registered on 10 August 2009 by the Ministry of Justice...
", a non-governmental organisation based in Ukraine.
External links
- Russian community in Ukraine
- Russian movement in Ukraine
- Russian Donbass
- VasinList.com - Russian Community and Classifieds in Kiev, Odessa & Lviv