The Ukrainian nation has long recognised its identity, so Putin’s assertion that Ukrainians and Russians are “one people” is reminiscent of Yaroslav Hasek’s insane tale “The Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk.” The fifth President of Ukraine, leader of the European Solidarity party Petro Poroshenko wrote about this in an article entitled “Putin’s article is not about history. This is a political manifesto with threats to neighbours,” in the Polish publication Gazeta Wyborcza, which the publication labelled a knockout for Putin.
“We, Ukrainians, have no problems with our own identity. And we don’t give a damn what Putin thinks about it. We are a Ukrainian political nation, whose equal members are citizens of different ethnic origins, different denominations and language communities. And we are distinguished from Russians not only by our own historical experience, language, songs and dances, or cuisine, but also by political culture, attitudes toward human rights and freedoms, geopolitical orientations, and a conscious and deep-rooted sense of belonging to European civilization. These differences have only intensified over the last seven years, and, by the way, Putin, who is so repulsive to Ukraine, has played a role in speeding up this process,” said the fifth President of Ukraine.
Petro Poroshenko also noted that the Russian president did not propose any new theories in his article, he instead repeated all the traditional Russian conspiracy theories.
“In terms of perception of history, Putin’s article does not contain anything new for us. This framework has been known to us from the middle of the nineteenth century. Then, against the background of national revival in Ukraine, Russian imperial propaganda launched a campaign of non-acceptance of Ukrainians as a separate people. “It was not, is not and cannot be,” – a notorious statement from a circular of Russian Interior Minister Valuev. That phrase became the official position of St. Petersburg regarding the Ukrainian language and the people as its bearers, “he added.
Petro Poroshenko noted that almost 160 years have passed since then, and the intellectual progress of the Russian leadership had been zero. “The statement that Ukrainians and Russians are one people reminds me of the description of the madhouse in which Švejk lay. In the book there was a professor who argued that there is another sphere inside the globe, much larger than the one above,” Poroshenko compared. The Fifth President of Ukraine also stressed that Ukrainians have determined the European direction of their country’s development, and Russian aggression had further confirmed this choice.
“Ukraine has chosen its path of development – membership in the EU and NATO. Opinion polls show that three-quarters of those who plan to take part in the EU referendum are ready to vote. For NATO, respectively, two thirds of Ukrainians are willing to participate in the referendum. By the way, Russian aggression has significantly strengthened support for the Euro-Atlantic course among Ukrainians, “Petro Poroshenko said.
“Next month we will celebrate our thirtieth anniversary of Independence, and the Russians still have not come to terms with it. And why be surprised here? It is only thirty years, and in Russia many people are still hurt by the loss of Finland and Poland, which happened more than a century ago,” the leader of European Solidarity summed up.