Anti-Ukrainian sentiment (), Ukrainophobia () or anti-Ukrainianism () is animosity towards
Ukrainians
Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...
,
Ukrainian culture
The culture of Ukraine is composed of the material and spiritual values of the Ukrainian people that has formed throughout the history of Ukraine. Strong family values and religion, alongside the traditions of Ukrainian embroidery and Ukrainian ...
, the
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian (, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language, spoken primarily in Ukraine. It is the first language, first (native) language of a large majority of Ukrainians.
Written Ukrainian uses the Ukrainian alphabet, a variant of t ...
,
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
as a nation, or all of the above.
[Andriy Okara. Ukrainophobia is a gnostic problem.]
n18texts Okara
". Retrieved 7 December 2008.
Modern scholars divide anti-Ukrainian sentiment into two types. One type consists of discrimination against Ukrainians based on their ethnic or cultural origin, typical forms of
xenophobia
Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...
,
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
, and broader
anti-Slavic sentiment
Anti-Slavic sentiment, also called Slavophobia, refers to prejudice, collective hatred, and discrimination directed at the various Slavic peoples. Accompanying racism and xenophobia, the most common manifestation of anti-Slavic sentiment througho ...
. Another type consists of the conceptual rejection of Ukrainians as an actual
ethnic group
An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...
and the rejection of the
Ukrainian culture
The culture of Ukraine is composed of the material and spiritual values of the Ukrainian people that has formed throughout the history of Ukraine. Strong family values and religion, alongside the traditions of Ukrainian embroidery and Ukrainian ...
and
language
Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...
, based on the belief that they are "unnatural" because they were "artificially formed"; at the turn of the 20th century, several
Russian nationalist
Russian nationalism () is a form of nationalism that promotes Russian cultural identity and unity. Russian nationalism first rose to prominence as a Pan-Slavic enterprise during the 19th century Russian Empire, and was repressed during the early ...
authors asserted that the Ukrainian identity and language had both been artificially created in order to "undermine" Russia. Since then, this argument has also been made by other Russian nationalist authors.
Ukrainophobic stereotypes
Within
Russian nationalist narratives and
propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...
, Ukrainophobic stereotypes range from mockery to ascribing negative traits to the whole Ukrainian nation and people of Ukrainian descent include:
*Ukrainians eat lots of
salo Salo or Salò may refer to:
Places Finland
*Salo, Finland, a town in Western Finland
**Salo sub-region, a subdivision of Finland Proper and one of the Sub-regions of Finland since 2009
*An old name of Saloinen, a former municipality in Ostroboth ...
.
*Ukrainians are greedy.
[
*Ukrainians are sly and cunning.][
*Ukrainians are dishonest.][
*Ukrainians are not educated and have no culture.][
*Ukrainians are homosexuals.
*Ukrainian women are prostitutes.
*Ukrainians are antisemites.][
*]Ukrainian language
Ukrainian (, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language, spoken primarily in Ukraine. It is the first language, first (native) language of a large majority of Ukrainians.
Written Ukrainian uses the Ukrainian alphabet, a variant of t ...
is a broken dialect of Russian
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
.
*Ukrainian nationalism
Ukrainian nationalism (, ) is the promotion of the unity of Ukrainians as a people and the promotion of the identity of Ukraine as a nation state. The origins of modern Ukrainian nationalism emerge during the Khmelnytsky Uprising, Cossack upri ...
is claimed to be associated with neo-Nazism
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
. This is a recurring theme in Russian disinformation
Russian disinformation campaigns have occurred in many countries. For example, disinformation campaigns led by Yevgeny Prigozhin have been reported in several African countries. Russia, however, denies that it uses disinformation to influence pub ...
within the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War
The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...
, usually in the following narratives:
**Ukrainians are sympathizers of nationalist leaders Stepan Bandera
Stepan Andriyovych Bandera (, ; ; 1 January 1909 – 15 October 1959) was a Ukrainian far-right leader of the radical militant wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, the OUN-B.
Bandera was born in Austria-Hungary, in Galicia (Eas ...
( ''Banderovtsy'') and Roman Shukhevych
Roman-Taras Osypovych Shukhevych (, also known by his pseudonym, Tur and Taras Chuprynka; 30 June 1907 – 5 March 1950) was a Ukrainian nationalism, Ukrainian nationalist and a military leader of the nationalist Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) ...
, collaborators of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
in World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Despite the stereotype, 4.5 million Ukrainians served the Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
during World War II against Nazi Germany. Ukrainians were also considered ''Untermensch
''Untermensch'' (; plural: ''Untermenschen'') is a German language word literally meaning 'underman', 'sub-man', or ' subhuman', which was extensively used by Germany's Nazi Party to refer to their opponents and non- Aryan people they deemed ...
en'' by the Nazis for being Slavic and treated accordingly. Although Bandera initially worked with the Nazis, he was later imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II.
**Ukrainians are sympathizers of the pro-independence hetman Ivan Mazepa
Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa (; ; ) was the Hetman of the Zaporozhian Host and the Left-bank Ukraine in 1687–1708. The historical events of Mazepa's life have inspired Cultural legacy of Mazeppa, many literary, artistic and musical works. He was ...
, who wish to betray "the unity between Russian and Ukrainian people".
**The whole of Ukrainian society is dominated by neo-Nazis and ultranationalists who persecuted ethnic Russians and Russian-speakers; this stereotype was used by the Russian government to justify invading Ukraine in 2022, with the claimed goal of "demilitarisation" and "denazification".
History
In the Russian Empire
The rise and spread of Ukrainian self-awareness around the time of the Revolutions of 1848
The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...
produced an anti-Ukrainian sentiment within some layers of society within the Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
. In order to retard and control this movement, the use of Ukrainian language within the Russian empire was initially restricted by official government decrees such as the Valuev Circular
The Valuev Circular (; ) of 18 (30) July 1863 was a decree (ukaz) issued by Pyotr Valuev (Valuyev), Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire, by which many publications (religious and educational literature recommended for the use in ...
(18 July 1863) and later banned by the Ems ukaz
The Ems Ukaz or Ems Ukase (; ), was an internal decree (''ukaz'') of Emperor Alexander II of Russia issued on banning the use of the Ukrainian language in print except for reprinting old documents. The ukaz also forbade the import of Ukrainia ...
(18 May 1876) from any use in print (with the exception of reprinting of old documents). Popularly the anti-Ukrainian sentiment was promulgated by such organizations as the "Black Hundreds
The Black Hundreds were reactionary, monarchist, and ultra-nationalist groups in Russia in the early 20th century. They were staunch supporters of the House of Romanov, and opposed any retreat from the autocracy of the reigning monarch. Their na ...
", which were vehemently opposed to Ukrainian self-determination
Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage.
Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...
. Some restrictions on the use of Ukrainian language were relaxed in 1905–1907. They ceased to be policed after the February Revolution in 1917.
Besides the Ems ukaz
The Ems Ukaz or Ems Ukase (; ), was an internal decree (''ukaz'') of Emperor Alexander II of Russia issued on banning the use of the Ukrainian language in print except for reprinting old documents. The ukaz also forbade the import of Ukrainia ...
and Valuev Circular
The Valuev Circular (; ) of 18 (30) July 1863 was a decree (ukaz) issued by Pyotr Valuev (Valuyev), Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire, by which many publications (religious and educational literature recommended for the use in ...
, there was a series of anti-Ukrainian language edicts starting from the 17th century, when Russia was governed by the House of Romanov
The House of Romanov (also transliterated as Romanoff; , ) was the reigning dynasty, imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after Anastasia Romanovna married Ivan the Terrible, the first crowned tsar of all Russi ...
. In 1720 Peter the Great
Peter I (, ;
– ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...
issued an edict prohibiting printing books in the Ukrainian language, and since 1729 all edicts and instructions have only been in the Russian language
Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...
. In 1763 Catherine the Great
Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...
issued an edict prohibiting lectures in the Ukrainian language
Ukrainian (, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language, spoken primarily in Ukraine. It is the first language, first (native) language of a large majority of Ukrainians.
Written Ukrainian uses the Ukrainian alphabet, a variant of t ...
at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. In 1769 the Most Holy Synod
The Most Holy Governing Synod (, pre-reform orthography: ) was the highest governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church between 1721 and 1917. It was abolished following the February Revolution of 1917 and replaced with a restored patriar ...
prohibited printing and using the Ukrainian alphabet book
An alphabet book is a type of children's book giving basic instruction in an alphabet. Intended for young children, alphabet books commonly use pictures, simple language and alliteration to aid language learning. Alphabet books are published ...
. In 1775 the Zaporizhian Sich
The Zaporozhian Sich (, , ; also ) was a semi-autonomous polity and proto-state of Zaporozhian Cossacks that existed between the 16th to 18th centuries, for the latter part of that period as an autonomous stratocratic state within the Cossa ...
was destroyed. In 1832 all studying at schools of the Right-bank Ukraine
The Right-bank Ukraine is a historical and territorial name for a part of modern Ukraine on the right (west) bank of the Dnieper River, corresponding to the modern-day oblasts of Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, as well as the western parts o ...
transitioned to exclusively Russian language. In 1847 the Russian government persecuted all members of the Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius
The Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius (; ) was a short-lived secret political society that existed in Kiev (now Kyiv, Ukraine), at the time a part of the Russian Empire.
The organization predated the Spring of Nations in Eastern Europe j ...
and prohibited the works of Taras Shevchenko
Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (; ; 9 March 1814 – 10 March 1861) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, folklorist, and ethnographer. He was a fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts and a member of the Brotherhood o ...
, Panteleimon Kulish
Panteleimon Oleksandrovych Kulish (; 7 August 1819 – 14 February 1897) was a Ukrainian writer, critic, poet, folklorist, and translator.
Life
Panteleimon Kulish was born 7 August 1819 in Voronizh (now Sumy Oblast) into an impoverished ...
, Mykola Kostomarov
Mykola Ivanovych Kostomarov (; May 16, 1817 – April 19, 1885) or Nikolai Ivanovich Kostomarov () was one of the most distinguished Russian–Ukrainian historians, one of the first anti-Normanists, and the father of modern Ukrainian historiog ...
(Nikolai Kostomarov) and others. In 1862 all free Sunday schools for adults in Ukraine were closed. In 1863 the Russian Minister of Interior Valuev decided that the Little Russian language (Ukrainian language) had never existed and could not ever exist. During that time in the winter of 1863–64, the January Uprising
The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...
took place at the western regions of the Russian Empire, uniting peoples of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
. Next year in 1864 the "Regulation about elementary school" claimed that all teaching should be conducted in the Russian language. In 1879 the Russian Minister of Education Dmitry Tolstoy
Count Dmitry Andreyevich Tolstoy (; , Moscow – , Saint Petersburg) was a Russian politician and a member of the State Council of Imperial Russia (1866). He belonged to the comital branch of the Tolstoy family.
Career
Tolstoy graduated f ...
(later the Russian Minister of Interior) officially and openly stated that all people of the Russian Empire should be Russified
Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy.
Russification was at times ...
. In the 1880s several edicts were issued prohibiting education in the Ukrainian language at private schools, theatric performances in Ukrainian, any use of Ukrainian in official institutions, and christening Ukrainian names. In 1892 another edict prohibited translation from the Russian to Ukrainian. In 1895 the Main Administration of Publishing prohibited printing children books in Ukrainian. In 1911 the resolution adopted at the 7th Congress of Noblemen in Moscow prohibited the use of any languages other than Russian. In 1914 the Russian government officially prohibited celebrations of the 100th Anniversary of Shevchenko's birthday and posted gendarmes at the Chernecha Hill
Taras Hill () or Chernecha Hora () is a hill on the bank of the Dnieper near Kaniv in Ukraine and an important landmark of the Shevchenko National Reserve where the remains of the famous Ukrainian poet and artist Taras Shevchenko have been burie ...
. The same year Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until Abdication of Nicholas II, hi ...
issued an edict prohibiting the Ukrainian press.
Soviet Union
Under Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
rule in Ukraine, a policy of korenization
Korenizatsiia (, ; ) was an early policy of the Soviet Union for the integration of non-Russian nationalities into the governments of their specific republics of the Soviet Union, Soviet republics. In the 1920s, the policy promoted representativ ...
was adopted after the defeat of the Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...
and it initially supported Ukrainian cultural self-awareness. This policy was phased out in 1928 and in 1932, it was entirely terminated in favor of Russification
Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy.
Russification was at times ...
.
In 1929 Mykola Kulish
Mykola Hurovych Kulish () (18 December 1892 – 3 November 1937) was a Ukrainian prose writer, playwright, pedagogue, veteran of World War I, and Red Army veteran. He is considered to be one of the lead figures of the Executed Renaissance; he w ...
wrote a theatrical play "Myna Mazailo" in which the author cleverly describes the cultural situation in Ukraine. There was supposedly no anti-Ukrainian sentiment within the Soviet government, which began to repress all aspects of Ukrainian culture and language, a policy which was contrary to the ideology of Proletarian Internationalism.
In 1930 the Union for the Freedom of Ukraine process was established in Kharkiv
Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine. , after which, a number of former Ukrainian politicians and their relatives were deported to Central Asia
Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
.
During the Great Purge
The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...
a whole generation of Ukrainian poets, writers and interpreters was prosecuted and executed, which further gained its own name of Executed Renaissance
The Executed Renaissance (), or Red Renaissance (), was a generation of Ukrainian language poets, writers, and artists of the 1920s and early 1930s who lived in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and wеre kille ...
.
During the Soviet era
The history of the Soviet Union (USSR) (1922–91) began with the ideals of the Russian Bolshevik Revolution and ended in dissolution amidst economic collapse and political disintegration. Established in 1922 following the Russian Civil War, ...
, the population of Ukraine was reduced by the artificial famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenom ...
which was called the Holodomor
The Holodomor, also known as the Ukrainian Famine, was a mass famine in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 that killed millions of Ukrainians. The Holodomor was part of the wider Soviet famine of 1930–193 ...
in 1932–33 along with the population of other nearby agrarian areas of the USSR. Collectivization in the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union introduced collectivization () of its agricultural sector between 1928 and 1940. It began during and was part of the first five-year plan. The policy aimed to integrate individual landholdings and labour into nominally co ...
and a lack of favored industries were the primary contributors to famine mortality (52% of excess deaths), and evidence shows that ethnic Ukrainians and Germans were targeted. According to a Centre for Economic Policy Research
The Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) is an independent, non-partisan, pan-European non-profit organisation. It aims to enhance the quality of policy decisions through providing policy-relevant research, based soundly in economic schola ...
paper published in 2021 by Andrei Markevich, Natalya Naumenko, and Nancy Qian, regions with higher Ukrainian population shares were struck harder with centrally planned policies corresponding to famine, and Ukrainian populated areas were given lower amounts of tractors which were correlated to a reduction in famine mortality, ultimately concluding that 92% of famine deaths in Ukraine alone along with 77% of famine deaths in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus combined can be explained by systematic bias against Ukrainians.
Many prominent Ukrainians were labelled nationalists or anti-revolutionaries, and many of them were repressed and executed as ''enemies of the people
The terms enemy of the people and enemy of the nation are designations for the political opponents and the social-class opponents of the power group within a larger social unit, who, thus identified, can be subjected to political repression. ...
''.
In January 1944, during a session of the Politbureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), Stalin personally made a speech "About anti-Lenin mistakes and nationalistic perversions in a film-tale of Alexander Dovzhenko
Alexander Petrovich Dovzhenko, also Oleksandr Petrovych Dovzhenko (, ; November 25, 1956), was a Soviet film director and screenwriter of Ukrainian origin. He is often cited as one of the most important early Soviet filmmakers, alongside Sergei ...
, ''Ukraine in Flames
''Ukraine in Flames'' (in ) is a 1943 Soviet documentary war film by Ukrainian director Oleksandr Dovzhenko and Yuliya Solntseva. It is Dovzhenko's second World War II documentary, and dealt with the First Battle of Kharkov, Battle of Kharkov. The ...
''.
On 2 July 1951, the Communist newspaper ''Pravda
''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, 'Truth') is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most in ...
'' published an article "On Ideological Perversions in Literature" with regard to the Volodymyr Sosyura's poem "Love Ukraine" which contained the following passage: "This poem could have been signed by such foes of the Ukrainian people as Petliura
Symon Vasyliovych Petliura (; – 25 May 1926) was a Ukrainian politician and journalist. He was the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian People's Army (UNA) and led the Ukrainian People's Republic during the Ukrainian War of Independence, a pa ...
and Bandera
Bandera - from a Spanish word meaning - may refer to:
Places
* Bandera County, Texas, U.S.
** Bandera, Texas, its county seat
*** Bandera High School
** Bandera Creek, a river, with its source near Bandera Pass
** Bandera Pass, a mountain pa ...
... For Sosiura writes about Ukraine and the love of it outside the limits of time and space. This is an ideologically vicious work. Contrary to the truth of life, the poet sings praises of a certain 'eternal' Ukraine full of flowers, curly willows, birds, and waves on the Dnipro."
Modern analysis indicates that the Ukrainian language
Ukrainian (, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language, spoken primarily in Ukraine. It is the first language, first (native) language of a large majority of Ukrainians.
Written Ukrainian uses the Ukrainian alphabet, a variant of t ...
was underrepresented in Soviet media productions.
Anti-Ukrainian hate speech during the
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
Inciting and dehumanizing anti-Ukrainian narratives that keep recurring in this context on social media platforms have been analyzed. They have been compared with hate speech that in the past has been used to justify violence against groups such as the victims of the Holocaust, groups targeted by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, Tutsi people during the Rwanda genocide of 1994 and the Rohingya in Myanmar.
In the case of the Russo-Ukrainian war, approving and promoting the violence includes i.a. celebrating Russian war crimes such as the Bucha massacre
The Bucha massacre (; ) was the mass murder of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war by the Russian Armed Forces during the fight for and occupation of the city of Bucha as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Photographic and video ...
, or Russian missile strike on an apartment building in Dnipro in January 2023, which killed more than 40 civilians. Social media accounts posting on such themes often simultaneously target sexual and gender minorities, promote conspiracy theories such as "biolabs in Ukraine", QANON and tend to express support for Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
.
By country
Ukraine
On Sunday 15 July 2012, the national television broadcasting station in Ukraine First National in its news program "Weekly overview" () showed a video footage on a development of anti-Ukrainian sentiments within Ukraine.
A propaganda article posted on the website of the Kremenchuk
Kremenchuk (; , , also spelt Kremenchug, ) is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. The city serves as the administrative center of Kremenchuk Raion and Kremenchuk urban hromada within ...
department of the Communist Party of Ukraine
The Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU or KPU) is a banned political party in Ukraine. It was founded in 1993 and claimed to be the successor to the Soviet-era Communist Party of Ukraine, which had been banned in 1991. In 2002 it held a "unifi ...
argues that history that was published during the Soviet regime
The political system of the Soviet Union took place in a federal single-party soviet socialist republic framework which was characterized by the superior role of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), the only party permitted by the C ...
was the true history, and that new historical facts being uncovered from the archives are false. The article also denies the existence of the Ukrainian culture
The culture of Ukraine is composed of the material and spiritual values of the Ukrainian people that has formed throughout the history of Ukraine. Strong family values and religion, alongside the traditions of Ukrainian embroidery and Ukrainian ...
.
Mykola Levchenko, a Ukrainian parliamentarian from Party of Regions
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...
, and the deputy of Donetsk City Council
Donetsk City Council () is the municipal council governing the Ukrainian city of Donetsk. The council has been temporarily suspended since 2014 due to the War in Donbas and subsequent Russian occupation of the city.
Leadership
Until its suspen ...
states that there should be only one language, Russian. He says that the Ukrainian language is impractical and should be avoided. Levchenko called Ukrainian the language of folklore and anecdotes. However, he says he will speak the literary Ukrainian language on principle, once Russian is adopted as the sole state language. Anna German, the spokesperson of the same party, highly criticized those statements.
Mykhailo Bakharev, the vice-speaker of the Crimean Autonomous Republic parliament (and chief editor of Krymskaya Pravda), openly says that there is no Ukrainian language and that it is the language of the non-educated part of population. He claims that it was invented by Taras Shevchenko
Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (; ; 9 March 1814 – 10 March 1861) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, folklorist, and ethnographer. He was a fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts and a member of the Brotherhood o ...
and others. He also believes that there is no Ukraine nation, there is no future for the Ukrainian State, and that Ukrainization needs to be stopped.
Minister of Education of Ukraine
The former Ukrainian Minister of Science and Education, Dmytro Tabachnyk
Dmytro Volodymyrovych Tabachnyk (, ; born November 26, 1963) is a Russian and former Ukrainian politician who served as the minister of education and science of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014.[denial of the Holodomor
Denial of the Holodomor is the claim that a 1932–33 man-made famine that killed millions in Soviet Ukraine, did not occur Richard Pipes, '' Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime'', Vintage books, Random House Inc., New York, 1995, , pages 235-2 ...]
.[https://web.archive.org/web/20100419052542/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/62086/ "Furor over Tabachnyk appointment rising"] Tabachnyk's view of Ukraine's history includes the thesis that western Ukrainians aren't really Ukrainian. In an article for the Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n newspaper ''Izvestia
''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, r=Izvestiya, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in February 1917, ''Izvestia'', which covered foreign relations, was the organ of the Supreme Soviet of th ...
'' Tabachnyk wrote in 2009: " Halychany (western Ukrainians) practically don't have anything in common with the people of Great Ukraine
The term Dnieper Ukraine
(), usually refers to territory on either side of the middle course of the Dnieper River. The Ukrainian name derives from ''nad‑'' (prefix: "above, over") + ''Dnipró'' ("Dnieper") + ''‑shchyna'' (suffix denoting a ge ...
, not in mentality, not in religion, not in linguistics, not in the political arena". "We have different enemies and different allies. Furthermore, our allies and even brothers are their enemies, and their "heroes" (Stepan Bandera
Stepan Andriyovych Bandera (, ; ; 1 January 1909 – 15 October 1959) was a Ukrainian far-right leader of the radical militant wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, the OUN-B.
Bandera was born in Austria-Hungary, in Galicia (Eas ...
, Roman Shukhevych
Roman-Taras Osypovych Shukhevych (, also known by his pseudonym, Tur and Taras Chuprynka; 30 June 1907 – 5 March 1950) was a Ukrainian nationalism, Ukrainian nationalist and a military leader of the nationalist Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) ...
) for us are killers, traitors and abettors of Hitler
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
's executioners." By 17 March 2010, four of western Ukraine's regional councils had passed resolutions calling for the minister's dismissal. A host of civic and student organizations from all over the country (including Kherson
Kherson (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and , , ) is a port city in southern Ukraine that serves as the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast. Located by the Black Sea and on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, Kherson is the home to a major ship-bui ...
in southern Ukraine and Donetsk
Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...
in eastern Ukraine
Eastern Ukraine or East Ukraine (; ) is primarily the territory of Ukraine east of the Dnipro (or Dnieper) river, particularly Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts (provinces). Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts are often also regarded as ...
), authors and former Soviet dissidents
Soviet dissidents were people who disagreed with certain features of Soviet ideology or with its entirety and who were willing to speak out against them. The term ''dissident'' was used in the Soviet Union (USSR) in the period from the mid-1960 ...
also signed petitions calling for his removal. Tabachnik also had stated that Ukrainian history textbooks contained "simply false" information and announced his intention to rewrite them.
Russia
In response to Ukraine's 1991 declaration of independence, a prominent Russian poet Joseph Brodsky
Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky (; ; 24 May 1940 – 28 January 1996) was a Russian and American poet and essayist. Born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) in the Soviet Union, Brodsky ran afoul of Soviet authorities and was expelled ("strongly ...
wrote a deeply offensive poem On the Independence of Ukraine. The poem was rediscovered and popularized by Russian state media in 2015 on the peak of the war in Donbas
The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...
.
In a poll held by Levada Center
The Levada Center is a Russian independent, nongovernmental polling and sociological research organization. It is named after its founder, the first Russian professor of sociology Yuri Levada (1930–2006). The center traces back its history t ...
in June 2009 in Russia 75% of Russian respondents respected Ukrainians as ethnic group but 55% were negative about Ukraine as the state. In May 2009, 96% of Ukrainians polled by Kyiv International Sociology Institute were positive about Russians as ethnic group, 93% respected the Russian Federation
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and 76% respected the Russian establishment.
Some Russian media seem to try to discredit Ukraine.[Russian attitudes not as icy towards Ukraine]
Kyiv Post
The ''Kyiv Post'' is Ukraine’s first and most prominent English-language newspaper. It was founded in 1995 in Kyiv by American businessman Jed Sunden.
In 2018, the publication was acquired by prominent Ukrainian businessman Adnan Kivan, foun ...
(15 October 2009) Media like Komsomolskaya Pravda
''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' (; ) is a daily Russian tabloid newspaper that was founded in 1925. Its name is in reference to the official Soviet newspaper '' Pravda'' (English: 'Truth').
History and profile
During the Soviet era, ''Komsomolskaya ...
seem to try to intensify the bad relationship between Ukraine and Russia. Anti-Ukrainian attitude persists among several Russian politicians, such as the former mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov Yuri may refer to:
People
Given name
*Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc.
*Yuri (Japanese name), feminine Japanese given names, including a list o ...
, and the former leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
LDPR – Liberal Democratic Party of Russia () is a Russian Ultranationalism, ultranationalist and Right-wing populism, right-wing populist List of political parties in Russia, political party. It succeeded the Liberal Democratic Party of the ...
and former Deputy Speaker of the Russian Parliament
The Federal Assembly is the bicameral national legislature of Russia. The upper house is the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council, and the lower house is the State Duma. The assembly was established by the Constitution of the Russian F ...
, Vladimir Zhirinovsky
Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky (, , né Eidelstein, ; 25 April 1946 – 6 April 2022) was a Russian right-wing populist politician and the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) from its creation in 1992 until his death in 20 ...
.[The Ukrainian Pravda. Why Cannot Zhirinovsky and Zatulin Wash Their Feet in the Black Sea on the Ukrainian coast]
Retrieved 11.20.07
/ref> Russian state officials have made anti-Ukrainian statements, for example, Deputy Chair of Russian Security Council
The Security Council of the Russian Federation ( SCRF or Sovbez; ) is a constitutional consultative body of the Russian president that supports the president's decision-making on national security affairs and matters of strategic interest. Comp ...
Dimitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia since 2020. Medvedev was also President of Russia between 2008 and 2012 and Prime Min ...
said in April 2022 that "the very essence of Ukrainianness, fed by anti-Russian venom and lies about its identity, is one big sham. Ukrainian identity does not exist and never has".
In 2006, in letters to Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
, Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Andriiovych Yushchenko (, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010. He aimed to orient Ukraine towards Western world, the West, European Union, and N ...
and Vasily Duma
Vasili, Vasily, Vasilii or Vasiliy (Russian: Василий) is a Russian masculine given name of Greek origin and corresponds to ''Basil''. It may refer to:
*Vasily I of Moscow Grand Prince from 1389–1425
*Vasily II of Moscow Grand Prince fro ...
, the Ukrainian Cultural Centre of Bashkortostan
Bashkortostan, officially the Republic of Bashkortostan, sometimes also called Bashkiria, is a republic of Russia between the Volga river and the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. The republic borders Perm Krai to the north, Sverdlovsk Oblast ...
complained of anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Russia, which they claim includes wide use of anti-Ukrainian ethnic slur
The following is a list of ethnic slurs, ethnophaulisms, or ethnic epithets that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given ethnic, national, or racial group or to refer to them in a derogatory, pej ...
s in the mainstream Russian media, television and film. The Urals Association of Ukrainians also made a similar complaint in a letter they addressed to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the p ...
in 2000.[Open letter to the Comissar of the OSCE from the Union of Ukrainians in the Ural]
Retrieved 11.20.07
/ref>
According to the Ukrainian Cultural Centre of Bashkortostan, despite their significant presence in Russia, Ukrainians in that country have less access to Ukrainian-language schools and Ukrainian churches than do other ethnic groups. In Vladivostok, according to the head of the Ukrainian government's department of Ukrainian Diaspora Affairs, local Russian officials banned a Ukrainian Sunday school in order not to " accentuate national issues"[The Ukrainian Weekly. 2003: The Year in Review. Diaspora Developments: news from East to Wes]
Retrieved 11.20.07
According to the president of the Ukrainian World Congress in 2001, persistent requests to register a Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP; (UPTs-KP)) was an Orthodox church in Ukraine, in existence from 1992 to 2018. Its patriarchal cathedral was St Volodymyr's Cathedral in Kyiv.
After its unilateral declaration ...
or a Ukrainian Catholic Church were hampered due to "particular discrimination" against them, while other Catholic, Muslim and Jewish denominations fared much better.[Regarding the census in Russia and the rights of Ukrainians]
Retrieved 11.20.07
/ref> According to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) is a Major archiepiscopal church, major archiepiscopal ''sui iuris'' ("autonomous") Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic church that is based in Ukraine. As a particular church of the Cathol ...
, by 2007 their denomination had only one church building in all of Russia.
In 2008 Nikolai Smirnov released a documentary in which he claims that Ukraine is part of one whole Russia that was split away by different western powers such as Poland, particularly.
In November 2010, the High Court of Russia cancelled registration of one of the biggest civic communities of the Ukrainian minority, the " Federal nation-cultural autonomy of the Ukrainians in Russia" (FNCAUR). According to the author Mykhailo Ratushniy Ukrainian activists continue to face discrimination and bigotry in much of Russia.
Hungary
Poland
From the 14th to the early 20th century, Polish aristocracy dominated large parts of Ukraine. Ukrainians were mostly peasants, and despised by Polish nobility for being of lower class and for their Orthodox religion. Under the Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...
, Ukrainians were routinely discriminated against (along with other minorities). They were excluded from public jobs, Polish peasants were favoured when land from nobles' estates was divided during land reform, and the Polish government went so far as to raze Orthodox churches and to plan the expulsion of all Ukrainians from the Kholm region. During the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, some Ukrainians initially supported Soviet and German occupation over continued Polish rule. Polish and Ukrainian militant organisations fought an underground war during and after the German occupation. Many Poles consider the destruction of Polish villages and killing of civilians during the conflict as genocide of Poles, although Polish underground organisations also massacred Ukrainians (e.g. during the Pawlokoma massacre, which occurred after the Volhynia massacre).
In late 1995, Ukrainian organization "ZUwP" was demanded to be banned following the wave of anti-Ukrainian actions that have erupted during the festival of Ukrainian culture in Poland in the border town of Przemyśl
Przemyśl () is a city in southeastern Poland with 56,466 inhabitants, as of December 2023. Data for territorial unit 1862000. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Subcarpathian Voivodeship. It was previously the capital of Prz ...
in 1995 where numerous threats against participants and numerous acts of vandalism took place. A rise in incidences of graffiti with anti-Ukrainian slogans, and the office of "Związek Ukraińców w Polsce" was set alight. In some cities anti-Ukrainian assaults, vandalism acts of an organised character have targeted centres of Ukrainian culture, schools, churches, memorials.
Ukrainophobic and antisemitic authors (mainly interbellum ''Endecja
National Democracy (, often abbreviated as ND or known as ''Endecja''; ) was a Polish political movement that operated from the second half of the 19th century, during the partitions of Poland, until the end of the Second Polish Republic. It e ...
'' activists) published by Polish publishing house Nortom
NORTOM is a Polish publishing house, founded in 1992 in Wrocław, specialising in books on Polish history with a focus on the Kresy region of the prewar Second Polish Republic, the Polish literature and political thought, including post-communist ...
include: Roman Dmowski
Roman Stanisław Dmowski Polish: (9 August 1864 – 2 January 1939) was a Polish right-wing politician, statesman, and co-founder and chief ideologue of the National Democracy (abbreviated "ND": in Polish, "''Endecja''") political movement ...
, Janusz Dobrosz
Janusz Konrad Dobrosz (, born 7 March 1954 in Wieruszów) is a Polish politician. He was elected to the Sejm on 25 September 2005, getting 14,655 votes in 3 Wrocław district as a candidate from the League of Polish Families list.
He was also a ...
, Jędrzej Giertych
Jędrzej Giertych (7 January 1903 – 9 October 1992) was a Polish right-wing politician, journalist and writer.
Biography
Jędrzej Giertych was born in Sosnowiec on 7 January 1903, the son of Franciszek Giertych (1868–1938), an engineer. ...
, Jan Ludwik Popławski
Jan Ludwik Popławski (17 January 1854 in Bystrzejowice Pierwsze – 12 March 1908 in Warsaw) was a Polish journalist, author, politician and one of the first chief activists and ideologues of the right-wing National Democracy political camp.
...
, Maciej Giertych
Maciej Marian Giertych (, born 24 March 1936 in Warsaw) is a Polish dendrologist and former far-right politician of the League of Polish Families (LPR). He favours state intervention in the economy. He was a member of the Sejm (between 2001 an ...
, Stanisław Jastrzębski
Stanisław Jastrzębski is a Polish writer, lawyer and historian.
Early life
He was born in the village of Bubło, Rohatyn County, in Stanisławów Voivodeship (currently Ukraine). Jastrzębski is a survivor of the World War II massacres of ...
and Edward Prus Edward Prus (born 1931 in Załoźce (now known as Zaliztsi) near Zboriv, (now in the Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine, died December 31, 2007) was a controversial Polish activist and political scientist with fields of interest in history of Poland (particul ...
. In 2000, Nortom was forced to withdraw its 12 controversial titles from the Frankfurt Book Fair by the Polish Ministry of Culture representative Andrzej Nowakowski overlooking the Polish exposition. Nortom was accused of selling anti-German, anti-Ukrainian and antisemitic books, especially the following titles: "Być czy nie być" by Stanisław Bełza, "Polska i Niemcy" by Jędrzej Giertych and "I tak nie przemogą. Antykościół, antypolonizm, masoneria" by his son Maciej Giertych. As a result of the above request, the president of the Polish delegation Andrzej Chrzanowski from Polska Izba Książki decided to penalise Nortom by removing it from the 2000 book fair altogether.
With the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War
The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...
in 2014, the number of Ukrainian people in Poland increased, especially those emigrating for work purposes, whose number began to grow in 2015. At that time, a stereotype of a Ukrainian as a cheap worker working illegally or as a person taking jobs from Poles in Poland emerged and increase in anti-immigrant sentiments by some political parties.
Situation after 24 February 2022
24 February 2022, armed forces of the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine. As a result, by November 2023, over 17 million Ukrainian citizens had crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border. The government and Polish society decided to help Ukraine, but the situation caused by the Ukrainian refugee crisis
An ongoing refugee crisis began in Europe in late February 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Over 6 million refugees fleeing Ukraine are recorded across Europe, while an estimated 8 million others had been Internally displaced person, ...
also resulted in a negative attitude towards Ukrainians among some Poles. Politicians Grzegorz Braun
Grzegorz Michał Braun (born 11 March 1967) is a Polish politician. He served as a member of the Sejm, the lower house of Poland's parliament, for Rzeszów from 2019 to 2024. He has been Chairman of the Confederation of the Polish Crown (abbrev ...
and Janusz Korwin-Mikke
Janusz Ryszard Korwin-Mikke (; born 27 October 1942), also known by his initials JKM or simply as Korwin, is a Polish far-right politician, paleolibertarian and author. He was a member of the European Parliament from 2014 until 2018. He was the ...
are often associated with anti-Ukrainian statements along with the Confederation Liberty and Independence
The Confederation Liberty and Independence (, KWiN), frequently shortened to just Confederation (), is a far-right political alliance in Poland. It was initially founded in 2018 as a political coalition for the 2019 European Parliament election ...
party. There were critical voices regarding aid for Ukraine and the alleged disarmament of the Polish Army from which newly purchased equipment was supposed to be sent to Ukraine. While some of these votes were right, some of them were mainly related to Russian propaganda. In 2022 the hashtag #StopUkrainizacjiPolski (Stop ukrainization of Poland) was popularized. Anti-Ukrainian sentiments were not only related to economic topics and war, but also appeared with various incidents such as the murder on Nowy Świat street
''Nowy Świat'' (), known in English as New World Street, is one of the main historic thoroughfares of Warsaw, Poland. It comprises part of the Royal Route (''Trakt królewski'') that extends from Warsaw's Royal Castle and Old Town, south to K ...
in Warsaw in May 2022, for which a Ukrainian citizen was allegedly responsible, or the missile explosion incident in Przewodów. A few smaller incidents also sparked anti-Ukrainian sentiments, but in some incidents some media incorrectly attributed Ukrainian nationality to the welders an example of which is the situation with 2 May 2023 when during the Polish Cup final in Warsaw a man who attacked police officers with an ax was wrongly presented as a Ukrainian citizen, even though he was a Polish citizen.
Recently, the most negative feelings among Polish society have been aroused by military support for Ukraine, which is defined as the transfer of military equipment and some necessary logistic supplies for free, and the problem related to Ukrainian grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...
, which caused farmers' protests on the Polish-Ukrainian border related to the massive flooding of the market. Polish through Ukrainian grain, lowering local prices.
Portugal
Anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Portugal has grown since the arrival of Ukrainian immigrants to Portuguese territory in the 1990s. Most Ukrainians in Portugal work in low-skill and low wages jobs, particularly on cleaning services, construction, manufacturing industries, transport services, hotels and restaurants. In March 2020, a Ukrainian citizen named Ihor Humenyuk was interrogated and tortured to death at Lisbon airport
Humberto Delgado Airport , informally Lisbon Airport and previously Portela Airport, is an international airport located northeast of the Baixa Pombalina, historical city centre of Lisbon, Portugal. With more than 35 million passengers per yea ...
while trying to immigrate to Portugal irregularly.
Canada
Anti-Ukrainian discrimination was present in Canada from the arrival of Ukrainians in Canada around 1891 until the late 20th century. In one sense this was part of a larger trend towards nativism
Nativism may refer to:
* Nativism (politics), ethnocentric beliefs relating to immigration and nationalism
* Nativism (psychology), a concept in psychology and philosophy which asserts certain concepts are "native" or in the brain at birth
* Lingu ...
in Canada during the period. But Ukrainians were singled out for special discrimination because of their large numbers, visibility (due to dress, non-western European appearance, and language), and political activism. During the First World War, around 8,000 Ukrainian Canadians were interned by the Canadian government as "enemy aliens" (because they came from the Austrian Empire). In the interwar period all Ukrainian cultural and political groups, no matter what their ideology was, were monitored by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...
and many of their leaders were deported.
This attitude began to slowly change after the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, as Canadian immigration and cultural policies generally moved from being explicitly nativist to a more pluralistic one. Ukrainian nationalists were now seen as victims of communism, rather than dangerous subversives. Ukrainians began to hold high offices, and one, Senator Paul Yuzyk
Paul Yuzyk (, 24 June 1913 – 9 July 1986) was a Canadian historian and Senator of Ukrainian background remembered as the "father of multiculturalism."'Yuzyk remembered as father of multiculturalism,' ''Ukrainian Weekly'', 20 July 1986 He w ...
was one of the earliest proponents of a policy of "multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''Pluralism (political theory), ethnic'' or cultura ...
" which would end official discrimination and acknowledge the contribution of non-English, non-French Canadians. The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism
The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (, also known as the Bi and Bi Commission and the Laurendeau-Dunton Commission) was a Canadian royal commission established on 19 July 1963, by the government of Prime Minister Lester B. P ...
of the 1960s, which had originally been formed only to deal with French-Canadian grievances, began the transition to multiculturalism in Canada because of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...
's desire to court Ukrainian votes in Western Canada. The commission also included a Ukrainian Canadian commissioner, Jaroslav Rudnyckyj
Jaroslav-Bohdan Antonovych Rudnyckyj
(, ; November 28, 1910 – October 19, 1995) was a Ukrainian-Canadian linguist and lexicographer with a specialty in etymology and onomastics, folklorist, bibliographer, travel writer, and publicist.
Care ...
.
Since the adoption of official multiculturalism under in 1982, Ukrainians in Canada have had legal protection against discrimination. Ukrainian Canadians have held high offices including Governor General (Ray Hnatyshyn
Ramon John Hnatyshyn ( ; March 16, 1934December 18, 2002) was a Canadian lawyer and statesman who served as the 24th governor general of Canada from 1990 to 1995.
Hnatyshyn was born and educated in Saskatchewan and served in the Royal Canadian ...
), Deputy Prime Minister (Chrystia Freeland
Christina Alexandra Freeland (born August 2, 1968) is a Canadian politician and journalist who has served as the Member of Parliament (Canada), member of Parliament (MP) for University—Rosedale (federal electoral district), University—Rose ...
), Leader of the Opposition (Rona Ambrose
Ronalee Ambrose Veitch ( , Name at birth, née Chapchuk; born March 15, 1969) is a former Canadian politician who served as Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada), leader of the Official Opposition and Interim leader (Canada), interim Leade ...
), and several premiers of provinces.
Latvia
According to researcher Mārtiņš Kaprāns of Center for European Policy Analysis
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...
, disinformation about Ukraine is dominant in Latvia's pro-Kremlin and Russian language media, which has contributed to a negative image of Ukraine in its Russian-speaking population, while ethnic Latvians are largely supportive of Ukraine. He has named Tatyana Zhdanok, and vesti.lv as some of the sources of anti-Ukrainian statements in Latvia.
On 20 May 2022, a man in Riga was ordered to pay 6034.55 euros as material and moral damages and sentenced to 200 hours of community service
Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community contributing to a noble cause. In many cases, people doing community service are compensated in other ways, such as gettin ...
for attacking a young man with a flag of Ukraine
The national flag of Ukraine (, ) consists of equally sized horizontal bands of blue and yellow.
The blue and yellow bicolor flag was first seen during the 1848 Spring of Nations in Lemberg (Lviv), the capital of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lo ...
on his shoulders. A police officer and an alleged spouse of the attacker present at the moment of the attack was fired from the State Police
State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as federations, typically in North America, South Asia, and Oceania. These forces typically have jurisdiction o ...
for negligence
Negligence ( Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate care expected to be exercised in similar circumstances.
Within the scope of tort law, negligence pertains to harm caused by the violation of a duty of care through a neg ...
. On 24 June 2022, a criminal case was launched against two young people for burning a flag of Ukraine at Vērmane Garden with the intention of posting the video on TikTok
TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...
to gain popularity and provoke Ukrainians.
North Korea
On 23 June 2024, Pak Jong-chon
Pak Jong-chon () is a North Korean Marshal who is a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).
Biography
In 2014, he was appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff and Chief of Fire Command at the Gen ...
made a statement in which he compares Ukrainians to neo-Nazis.
Slang references to Ukrainians and Ukrainian culture
The use of ethnic slurs and stereotypes in relation to Ukrainians in Russian media
Television, magazines, and newspapers have all been operated by both state-owned and for-profit corporations which depend on advertising, subscription, and other sales-related revenues. Even though the Constitution of Russia guarantees freed ...
is one of Ukrainian community's concerns in Russia.
Ethnic slurs
* ''khokhol
''Oseledets'' (, ) or ''chub'' ( ) is a traditional Ukrainian hairstyle that features a long lock of hair sprouting from the top or the front of an otherwise closely shaven head (similar to a modern Mohawk). Most commonly it is associated wi ...
'' – derived from a term for a traditional Cossack-style haircut.
* ''saloyed'' – literally "salo Salo or Salò may refer to:
Places Finland
*Salo, Finland, a town in Western Finland
**Salo sub-region, a subdivision of Finland Proper and one of the Sub-regions of Finland since 2009
*An old name of Saloinen, a former municipality in Ostroboth ...
eater"; based on a stereotype and a running joke that ''salo'' is a national food favorite of the Ukrainians.
* ''Ukr'', plural ''Ukry'' – after gaining independence, Ukrainians started rebuilding their history after a long period of Polonization
Polonization or Polonisation ()In Polish historiography, particularly pre-WWII (e.g., L. Wasilewski. As noted in Смалянчук А. Ф. (Smalyanchuk 2001) Паміж краёвасцю і нацыянальнай ідэяй. Польскі ...
and Russification
Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy.
Russification was at times ...
. This nation-building drive was derided by Russians. A Russian running joke is that Ukrainians derive the name of the country Ukraine from the name of the supposed ancient tribe of "Ukrs". Also derisively called Great Ukrs, ''Velikiie Ukry''.
* ''Ukrop'' – literally "dill
Dill (''Anethum graveolens'') is an annual herb in the celery family Apiaceae. It is native to North Africa, Iran, and the Arabian Peninsula; it is grown widely in Eurasia, where its leaves and seeds are used as a herb or spice for flavouring ...
", a pun: Ukrainian = ukrop. The slur was reappropriated
In linguistics, reappropriation, reclamation, or resignification is the cultural process by which a group reclaims words or artifacts that were previously used in a way disparaging of that group. It is a specific form of a semantic change (i.e ...
by Ukrainians during the war in Donbas
The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...
and later adopted by the UKROP
UKROP ( in Russian), short for the Ukrainian Association of Patriots (), was a political party in Ukraine. party.
* ''Szoszon'' – in Poland, an imitation of the Polish word "Co"''?'', literally "what?" - Ukrainians struggle to pronounce "Co?" And instead say the word "Szo?" -, and a pun on the Shoshone
The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ), also known by the endonym Newe, are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the United States with four large cultural/linguistic divisions:
* Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming
* Northern Shoshon ...
tribe of North America.
* '' Hunky'' – in North America (historically)
Political insults and historical nicknames
* ''Maloross'' – Ukrainian, "Little Russia
Little Russia, also known as Lesser Russia, Malorussia, or Little Rus', is a geographical and historical term used to describe Ukraine.
At the beginning of the 14th century, the patriarch of Constantinople accepted the distinction between wha ...
n", "dweller of ''Malorossiya''". Revival of a nineteenth-century imperial Russian term dismissive of independent Ukrainian nationality. Ukrainians often use this to describe culturally russified Ukrainians.
There are a number of Russian insults based on the alleged opposition of all Ukrainians to all things Russian (or all things Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, in the past):
* ''Mazepinets'' – Mazepite, Ivan Mazepa
Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa (; ; ) was the Hetman of the Zaporozhian Host and the Left-bank Ukraine in 1687–1708. The historical events of Mazepa's life have inspired Cultural legacy of Mazeppa, many literary, artistic and musical works. He was ...
supporter, archaic.
* ''Pietliurovets'' – Petlyurite, Symon Petliura
Symon Vasyliovych Petliura (; – 25 May 1926) was a Ukrainian politician and journalist. He was the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian People's Army (UNA) and led the Ukrainian People's Republic during the Ukrainian War of Independence, a pa ...
supporter.
* ''Banderivets'', or ''Banderovets, a''lso variants ''Bandera'', ''Banderlog'', ''Benderovets''. – "Banderite
A Banderite or Banderovite (; ; ; ) is a name for the members of the OUN-B, a faction of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. The term, used from late 1940 onward, derives from the name of Stepan Bandera (1909–1959), the ultranation ...
", a term used to associate Ukrainian national identity with radical nationalism. Historically, referred to supporters of far-right nationalist politician Stepan Bandera
Stepan Andriyovych Bandera (, ; ; 1 January 1909 – 15 October 1959) was a Ukrainian far-right leader of the radical militant wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, the OUN-B.
Bandera was born in Austria-Hungary, in Galicia (Eas ...
(1909–59).
* ''Zhydobandera'', ''Zhidobandera'', or ''Zhydobanderovets'' – "Yid-Banderite" or "Judeo-Banderite" a conflation of ''Zhyd'' (i.e., a Kike
''Kike'' (), also known as the K-word, is an ethnic slur directed at Jews. The etymological origin comes from the Yiddish word for circle, (''kaykel''), itself a derivation of the Ancient Greek word .
Etymology
According to the ''Oxford Eng ...
) and a Bandera
Bandera - from a Spanish word meaning - may refer to:
Places
* Bandera County, Texas, U.S.
** Bandera, Texas, its county seat
*** Bandera High School
** Bandera Creek, a river, with its source near Bandera Pass
** Bandera Pass, a mountain pa ...
follower. This is an ironic self-appellation coined by Ukrainian Jewish activists during the Euromaidan protests to highlight the inconsistency of Russian propaganda which demonized Ukrainian pro-Europe and pro-democracy activism as fascist to the West and as Jewish to Ukrainians, with reference to "Judeo-Bolshevism
Jewish Bolshevism, also Judeo–Bolshevism, is an antisemitic and anti-communist conspiracy theory that claims that the Russian Revolution of 1917 was a Jewish plot and that Jews controlled the Soviet Union and international communist movemen ...
".
* ''Maidaun'' – a conflation of the Maidan
Maidan is an originally Persian word for a town square or public gathering place (Persian: ), adopted by various other languages: Urdu (''maidān''); Arabic (''maydān''); Turkish ; Georgian (''moedani''); Bangla ময়দান, meaning f ...
protest movement and ''daun'', person with Down syndrome.
* ''Maidanutyi'' – a conflation of the Maidan
Maidan is an originally Persian word for a town square or public gathering place (Persian: ), adopted by various other languages: Urdu (''maidān''); Arabic (''maydān''); Turkish ; Georgian (''moedani''); Bangla ময়দান, meaning f ...
and the ''yebanutyi'', "fucked in the head" (insane).
* ''kastruliegolovyi'' – literally "cooking pot-headed". A derogatory term for Euromaidan
Euromaidan ( ; , , ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv. The p ...
supporters. So-called " Dictatorship laws" banned, among other things, the use of helmets during mass gatherings. On 19 January 2014 some Euromaidan
Euromaidan ( ; , , ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv. The p ...
participants mocked the ban by wearing cookware as helmets.
* ''svidomit'' – a conflation of Ukrainian ''svidomyi'', "conscious, conscientious", and Russian ''sodomit'', " sodomite".
*''Banderlog'' – a conflation of ''Bandera'' and ''Bandar-log
Bandar-log () is a term used in Rudyard Kipling's ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) to describe the monkeys of the Seeonee jungle.
Description
In Hindi, ''Bandar'' means "monkey" and ''log'' means "people" – hence the term simply refers to "monkey pe ...
''.
*''Pigs'' – refers to a stereotype that Ukrainians love to eat salo and pork in general.
Other
* ''mova'' – a Russian derisive slang reference to Ukrainian language
Ukrainian (, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language, spoken primarily in Ukraine. It is the first language, first (native) language of a large majority of Ukrainians.
Written Ukrainian uses the Ukrainian alphabet, a variant of t ...
("language" is ''mova'' in Ukrainian, ''yazyk'' in Russian).
* ''nezalezhnaya'' – a Russian derisive slang reference to Ukraine. Borrowing of Ukrainian ''nezalezhna'', "independent", with a Russian ending, mocking the historical Ukrainian struggle for independence (compare Russian ''nezavisimaya''). Sometimes used colloquially by Russians and Russian mass media to express ironic, disparaging attitude towards Ukraine.
Anti-Ukrainian sentiment in culture and media
* ''72 Meters
''72 Meters'' () is a 2004 Russian disaster film directed by Vladimir Khotinenko based on the short stories from the collection of stories of the same name by Alexander Pokrovsky.
Synopsis
Officers of the Russian Navy, lieutenant-commanders Pyot ...
''
* ''Brother 2
''Brother 2'' () is a 2000 Russian crime film written and directed by Aleksei Balabanov and starring Sergei Bodrov Jr.. It is a direct sequel to the 1997 film ''Brother''. The film is set in Moscow and Chicago.
''Brother 2'' received mostly po ...
''
* ''Taras Bulba
''Taras Bulba'' (; ) is a romanticized historical novella set in the first half of the 17th century, written by Nikolai Gogol (1809–1852). It features elderly Zaporozhian Cossack Taras Bulba and his sons Andriy and Ostap. The sons study at th ...
''
* ''Iron Ivan
''Iron Ivan'' () is a 2014 Russian biographical sports drama film directed by Gleb Orlov. The plot of the film in many ways repeats the Soviet film ''The Wrestler and the Clown''.
Plot
The film tells about the fighter Ivan Poddubny, who could de ...
''
* '' Crimea. The Way Home''
* '' The Game''
* '' Moya prekrasnaya nyanya''
* '' :ru:20/22''
* '' Ukraine on Fire''
* ''Hatred
Hatred or hate is an intense negative emotional response towards certain people, things or ideas, usually related to opposition or revulsion toward something. Hatred is often associated with intense feelings of anger, contempt, and disgust. Hat ...
''
* ''Emily in Paris
'' Emily in Paris'' is an American romantic comedy drama television series created by Darren Star for Netflix. The series stars Lily Collins as aspiring marketing executive Emily Cooper, an American who moves to Paris to provide an American p ...
''
*''Lost Girl
''Lost Girl'' is a Canadian supernatural drama television series that premiered on Showcase on September 12, 2010, and ran for five seasons. It follows the life of a bisexual succubus named Bo, played by Anna Silk, as she learns to control ...
''
*''2 Broke Girls
''2 Broke Girls'' (stylized as ''2 Broke Girl$'') is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from September 19, 2011, to April 17, 2017. The series was produced for Warner Bros. Television and created by Michael Patrick King and Whitn ...
''
* ''Lord of War
''Lord of War'' is a 2005 Crime drama film, crime-drama film written and directed by Andrew Niccol. It stars Nicolas Cage, Jared Leto, Bridget Moynahan, Ethan Hawke, and Eamonn Walker in primary roles. The plot follows an unscrupulous Ukrain ...
''
* ''The White Guard
''The White Guard'' () is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, first published in 1925 in the literary journal ''Rossiya''. It was not reprinted in the Soviet Union until 1966.
Background
''The White Guard'' first appeared in serial form in the Sovi ...
''
* ''The Days of the Turbins
''The Days of the Turbins'' () is a four-act play by Mikhail Bulgakov that is based upon his novel '' The White Guard''.
It was written in 1925 and premiered on 5 October 1926 in Moscow Art Theatre (MAT) and was directed by Konstantin Stanisla ...
''
* ''Battle for Sevastopol
''Battle for Sevastopol'' (; ) is a 2015 biographical war film about Lyudmila Pavlichenko, a young Soviet woman who joined the Red Army to fight the German invasion of the USSR and became one of the deadliest snipers in World War II. The film, ...
''
* Gogol. The Beginning
''Gogol. Origins'' () is a 2017 Russian fantasy-horror film directed by Yegor Baranov loosely based on works by Nikolai Gogol from the 1832 collection '' Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka''. The title role is played by Alexander Petrov.
''Gogol. ...
* Viy
* ''Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...
''
* ''Interns
An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...
''
* '' Black Hunters 2''
* '' The Grishchenko family''[Віталій Жежера]
Сім'я вечеря в Інтернеті…
Голос України, 27 вересня 2003
See also
* Chronology of Ukrainian language bans
* Russification of Ukraine
The Russification of Ukraine (; ) was a system of measures, actions and legislations undertaken by the Imperial Russian, later Soviet, and present-day authorities of the Russian Federation to strengthen Russian national, political and linguis ...
* Slavophobia
Anti-Slavic sentiment, also called Slavophobia, refers to prejudice, collective hatred, and discrimination directed at the various Slavic peoples. Accompanying racism and xenophobia, the most common manifestation of anti-Slavic sentiment througho ...
* Dziuba, Ivan, ''Internationalism or Russification?
''Internationalism or Russification?'' () is a book by Ukrainian writer and social activist Ivan Dziuba. It was written in late 1965 as a supplement to a letter sent to the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Petro Shelest, in de ...
'', a dissident's Marxist
Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
critique of the national and cultural policy of the Soviet Union in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...
* " What Russia should do with Ukraine"
* Russian allegations of fascism against Ukraine
As part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian state and state-controlled media have spread disinformation in their information war against Ukraine. Ukrainian media and politicians have also been accused of using propaganda and dec ...
References and footnotes
External links
Article that lists the communist regime crimes against Ukrainians
* S. Velychenko
"The Strange Case of Foreign Pro Russian Radical Leftists"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anti-Ukrainian Sentiment
Ukrainian
Human rights in Ukraine