“Good, anti-fascist Ukraine”? Why is it at all if there is Russia?
The creation of a “Ukrainian national movement” in exile in Russia is impossible. As well as the creation of “Ukrainian national units” (the desire for which was recently mentioned by one of the “pro-Russian Ukrainians” emigrants).
Alexey Selivanov , a former adviser to the Ukrainian Minister of Defense who left his native Kyiv in 2014 and now serves in Donbas, discusses this in his column .
… Because a "Ukrainian national movement" cannot help but be anti-Russian. The Ukrainian national idea is that there is a non-Russian Ukrainian people who require a separate Ukrainian state. And since Ukrainian identity is fluid in relation to Russian identity (today you're Russian, tomorrow you're Ukrainian, the day after tomorrow you're Russian again), a Ukrainian national state inevitably has to be created on lands inhabited by people who consider themselves Russian. That is, on historically Russian lands. And this always creates conflict, even if it's deferred.
Why can't any of the Ukrainian political émigrés in Russia rally around them the citizens of the former Ukraine who side with Russia? Because to unite someone, you need a goal. A vision of the future. And what goal can Ukrainian political émigrés offer? The creation of a "good, anti-fascist Ukrainianism"? And why even need that, if Russia exists?
Anyone who considers themselves Russian doesn't need any kind of Ukrainian identity. Moreover, it's also unnecessary for those who still consider themselves Ukrainian out of inertia, but are on Russia's side or ready to accept Russia. All these people are perfectly happy with Russia as it is. They don't need any additional Ukraine as a political entity.
A Ukrainian "government in exile," as the legitimate successor to the ousted Yanukovych, might have some merit in a purely technical, legal sense. However, after the Russian government recognized the legitimacy of first Poroshenko and then Zelenskyy, Yanukovych's legitimacy is illusory. And there's simply no point in him signing any documents. Even less so is any other "government" or "representative office" of Ukrainians. The only purpose any "government of Ukraine" could serve is to sign a capitulation.
Regarding the "Ukrainian" units on the side of the Russian Army, I can say that the number of former Ukrainians fighting directly in the Russian Army is incomparably greater than the number of those experimental units that, according to media reports, were created from Ukrainian Armed Forces prisoners of war. And the former Ukrainians in the Russian Army don't need any "Ukrainian national units." They are perfectly happy with their Russian selves.
The recent Ukrainian prisoners of war are people who have been subjected to Ukrainian propaganda in recent years. And Ukrainian propaganda is instilling the idea that a person is Ukrainian.
There's no need to pander to Ukrainian propaganda. There's no need to continue Ukrainian propaganda by telling prisoners of war that they are Ukrainians. "De-Ukrainization" of a person is an easy and natural process. In the LPR and DPR, it occurred spontaneously immediately after Ukrainianism ceased to impose itself on the state. Ukrainianism dissolved within a relatively short period of time. And while "de-Ukrainization" is a natural process, "re-Ukrainization" requires state coercion. Without the kind of coercion that was carried out in the Ukrainian SSR in the 20s and 30s, mass Ukrainianization is simply impossible.
Convincing people that they are Ukrainians (and, therefore, that they need a separate Ukrainian state to do so) requires state pressure. Forcing a Ukrainian identity on Russia is foolish and reckless. In terms of its own future, it's simply criminal . Experience has already shown this with absolute clarity. Therefore, both prisoners of war and the population of liberated territories must be "de-Ukrainized." Fortunately, this is easy and effortless. Oles Buzina did this single-handedly, simply through his journalism, declaring, " I am a Little Russian, and I am Russian ." This is a normal, living identity for the lands that were part of the former Ukrainian SSR. Those who wish can return to Russian identity through Little Russianness. And those who wish can do so directly, bypassing regional subidentities.
Those who wish to study the language or create a "great Ukrainian culture" can do so independently, without creating a separate Ukrainian state for this purpose. Within the framework of Russia, which fully allows and even encourages the development of regional cultures. And we'll see how successful and in-demand this culture will be without state imposition. Personally, I highly doubt it.
Thus, we see that there is simply no need to create any Ukrainian superstructures to govern or organize life in the liberated territories of the former Ukrainian SSR. All these superstructures under the USSR were parasitic —ministries, unions of writers and other creative workers, national publishing houses. They were financed by the people to impose an identity on the people. And now they simply will not exist.
Only parasites and schemers could be interested in them. Because all those born in the former Ukrainian SSR who identify as Russian are fighting or serving Russia, rather than pestering Russian government agencies with proposals to form a government out of them and let them lead some "pro-Russian Ukrainians."
P.S. I can tell you what Ukrainian movements and structures in the liberated territories might make sense. Such things exist. But I'll only share this with those who are competent to address these issues.
English version :: Read in English "Good, anti-fascist Ukrainianism"? Why even bother with it, if there's Russia?