One of the basic premises behind the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began place exactly a year ago, was the viewpoint that Ukraine is not a real country. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, loves to call it "Lenin's invention" and believes that Ukrainians are not a separate people but part of the Russian triune – "One people with three faces" (together with Russians and Belarussians).
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Until the invasion, Ukrainians, at the very least still felt connected to Russians on some level. But February 2022 has proved to be a watershed moment – something that happened that made the previous reality unlikely to return. As a result, a long series of cultural changes have taken place – even regarding expressions Ukrainians use daily that cannot be overlooked. For example, before the war most Ukrainians spoke Russian at home; however, many have consciously decided to switch to speaking Ukrainian. A survey conducted over the summer on this subject revealed that the percentage of Ukrainians who speak Russian at home shrunk to only 18%. For comparison, just nine years ago 40% spoke Russian at home.
However, language is only part of the story. Even in the first few weeks of the war, a tsunami of name changes of places and geographic sites washed over Ukraine. Any name that was associated with the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union was no longer considered legitimate. For example, Moscow Boulevard in Kharkiv has become the Heroes of Kharkiv Boulevard.
Saying no to Pushkin
A similar fate befell statues and monuments connected to the Russian and Bolshevik empires. Monuments of Russian Empress Catherine II (Catherine the Great) and Soviet General Nikolai Vatutin in Kyiv – and countless statues of the Russian national poet Alexander Pushkin. Before the war, there were no fewer than 100 streets named after him. However, the invasion reminded many of the poem "To the Slanderers of Russia" which was written in 1831 to honor the "November Uprising" (also known as the "Cadet Revolution"). In the poem, Pushkin defended the tsarist oppression in Poland and demanded that the West (mainly the French) not interfere in the "family feud" between the Slavs. This sounds eerily like Putin's rhetoric.
The trendiest language of all
Since the invasion, Ukrainians have enjoyed high levels of support among nations in the Western world, and this has resulted in many things: from the huge demonstrations of support at the beginning of the war to the Ukrainian flag hanging on government buildings in the European Union; from the small flag that appeared in the background while the results of the Spanish league were broadcasted, to the surprising figure published last month by the language-learning application "Duolingo" – Ukrainian is the trendiest language in the world!
And how have the Ukrainians themselves changed? One of the most noteworthy and obvious ways is how Ukrainians have discovered the strength they hold as a nation – this has been expressed in countless memes that have presented Ukraine as David versus Goliath and have ridiculed Russia in general and particularly Putin in every way possible. (See examples)
Dr. Ella Libanova, the director of the Ptoukha Institute for Demography and Social Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, recently assessed that the basic values of Ukrainians have not actually changed, only the behavior and self-esteem. "For 300 years, Ukrainians felt second class," she told Fakty, "that changed after Ukraine repelled the second strongest army in the world."
Vadym Denysenko is the Executive Director of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future in Kyiv. He explained that Ukrainians had to grow up all at once. "Last year, the whole country sat behind their screens and enjoyed watching politicians curse at each other," he told Israel Hayom. "Now Ukrainians say: We don't want that anymore. We have become much more pragmatic."
"The second significant change concerns the attitude towards the state. One of the main problems of our society was the deep chasm separating the people from the state. The state and the citizens felt separate from one another. Now, most people say 'The responsibility for the state – is mine. And perhaps the last thing that stands out is the change in relation to Russia. Even after 2014 [when Putin invaded Crimea], many still accepted Putin's view that both nations belong to one people. After the Bucha massacre, everyone realized: We are not at all related."
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