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Russians
Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...
constitute the country's largest ethnic minority
The term "minority group" has different meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority g ...
in Ukraine. This community forms the largest single Russian community outside of Russia in the world. In the 2001 Ukrainian census
The 2001 Ukrainian census is to date the only census of the population of independent Ukraine. It was conducted by the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine on 5 December 2001, twelve years after the last Soviet Union census in 1989.
Ethnic Russians live throughout Ukraine. They form a notable fraction of the overall population in the east and south, a significant minority in the center, and a smaller minority in the west.
The west and the center of the country feature a higher percentage of Russians in cities and industrial centers and much smaller percentage in the overwhelmingly Ukrainophone rural areas. Due to the concentration of the Russians in the cities, as well as for historic reasons, most of the largest cities in the center and the south-east of the country (including
More 
At the end of the 18th century, the Russian Empire captured large uninhabited steppe territories from the former
''
. although an estimated 70 percent of Ukraine's population nationwide consider that Russian should be taught at secondary schools along with Ukrainian. The Russian Cultural Center in Lviv has been attacked and vandalized on several occasions. On January 22, 1992, it was raided by UNA-UNSO led by the member of
According to the Institute of Sociology surveys conducted yearly between 1995 and 2005, the percentage of respondents who have encountered cases of ethnic-based discrimination against Russians during the preceding year has consistently been low (mostly in single digits), with no noticeable difference when compared with the number of incidents directed against any other nation, including the Ukrainians and the Jews.See Panina, p. 48 According to the 2007 Comparative Survey of Ukraine and Europe only 0.1% of Ukrainian residents consider themselves belonging to a group which is discriminated by nationality. However, by April 2017 in a public opinion survey conducted by Rating Group Ukraine, 57 percent of Ukrainians polled expressed a very cold or cold attitude toward Russia, as opposed to only 17 percent who expressed a very warm or warm attitude.
Some surveys indicate that Russians are not socially distanced in Ukraine. The indicator of the willingness of Ukraine's residents to participate in social contacts of varying degrees of closeness with different ethnic groups (the
Language
Geography
Ethnic Russians live throughout Ukraine. They form a notable fraction of the overall population in the east and south, a significant minority in the center, and a smaller minority in the west.
The west and the center of the country feature a higher percentage of Russians in cities and industrial centers and much smaller percentage in the overwhelmingly Ukrainophone rural areas. Due to the concentration of the Russians in the cities, as well as for historic reasons, most of the largest cities in the center and the south-east of the country (including Kyiv
Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
where Russians amount to 13.1% of the population
Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...
) remained largely Russophone
This article details the geographical distribution of Russian-speakers. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the status of the Russian language often became a matter of controversy. Some Post-Soviet states adopted policies of Derus ...
. Russians constitute the majority in Crimea
Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
(71.7% in Sevastopol
Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...
and 58.5% in the Autonomous republic of Crimea
The Autonomous Republic of Crimea is a ''de jure'' administrative division of Ukraine encompassing most of Crimea that was unilaterally annexed by Russia in 2014. The Autonomous Republic of Crimea occupies most of the peninsula,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 ...
(48.2%) and Makiivka
Makiivka (, ), formerly Dmytriivsk () until 1931, is an industrial city in Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine, located east from Donetsk. The two cities are practically a conurbation. It has a population of It hosts the administration of Makiivka ...
(50.8%) in Donetsk Oblast
Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna (, ), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its capital city, administrative centre is Donetsk, though d ...
, Ternivka
Ternivka (, ) is a city in Pavlohrad Raion, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Ternivka urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: Population was 23,972 (2024).
History
In April 1930 the village was ...
(52.9%) in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in simultaneously southern, eastern and central Ukraine, the most important industrial region of the country. It was created on February 27, 1932. Dnipropetro ...
, Krasnodon
Krasnodon () or Sorokyne (; ) is a city in Dovzhansk Raion (district) of Luhansk Oblast in Ukraine. Residence of Sorokyne urban hromada. Its population is approximately
Krasnodon came under control of pro-Russian separatists in early 2014, ...
(63.3%) and Sverdlovsk (Dovzhansk) (58.7%) and Krasnodon Raion
Krasnodon Raion (; ) or Sorokyne Raion (; ) was a raion (district) in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine from 1923 to 2020 and the de-facto district of the Luhansk People's Republic, a federal subject of Russia. The administrative center of the raion was K ...
(51.7%) and Stanytsia-Luhanska Raion
Stanytsia-Luhanska Raion (; ) was a raion (district) in Luhansk Oblast of eastern Ukraine. The administrative center of the raion was the urban-type settlement of Stanytsia Luhanska. The raion was abolished on 18 July 2020 as part of the admini ...
(61.1%) in Luhansk Oblast
Luhansk Oblast (; ), also referred to as Luhanshchyna (), is the easternmost Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the n ...
, Izmail
Izmail (, ; ; , or ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality on the Danube river in Odesa Oblast in south-western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Izmail Raion, one of seven distr ...
(43.7%) in Odesa Oblast
Odesa Oblast (), also referred to as Odeshchyna (Одещина), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its administrative centre is the city of Ode ...
, Putyvl Raion
Putyvl Raion () was a raion in Sumy Oblast in Central Ukraine. The administrative center of the raion was the town of Putyvl. The raion was abolished on 18 July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of rai ...
(51.6%) in Sumy Oblast
Sumy Oblast (), also known as Sumshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in northeast Ukraine. The oblast was created in its modern-day form, from the merging of raions from Kharkiv Oblast, Chernihiv Oblast, and Poltava Oblast in 1939 by the Presid ...
.
There are two notable sub-ethnic groups of Russians in Ukraine: the Goryuns around Putyvl
Putyvl (, ; , ) is a city in Sumy Oblast, in north-east Ukraine. The city served as the administrative center of Putyvl Raion until the administrative reform in 2018; now it is under the jurisdiction of Konotop Raion. Population:
History
One ...
, and the Lipovans
The Lipovans or Lippovans are ethnic Russians, Russian Old Believers living in Romania, Ukraine, Moldova and Bulgaria who settled in the Principality of Moldavia, in the east of the Principality of Wallachia (Muntenia), and in the regions of D ...
(a group of Old Believers
Old Believers or Old Ritualists ( Russian: староверы, ''starovery'' or старообрядцы, ''staroobryadtsy'') is the common term for several religious groups, which maintain the old liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian ...
) around Vylkove
Vylkove (, ; ; ) is a small city located in the Ukrainian part of the Danube Delta, at utmost southwest of Ukraine, on the border with Romania. Administratively, it is part of Izmail Raion (district) of Odesa Oblast (region). Vylkove hosts the a ...
.
History
Early history
One of the most prominent Russians in Medieval Ukraine (at that time thePolish–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 ...
) was Ivan Fyodorov, who published the Ostrog Bible
The Ostrog Bible (; ) was the first complete printed edition of the Bible in Church Slavonic, published in Ostrog (now Ostroh, Ukraine) in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by the printer Ivan Fyodorov in 1581 with the assistance of Konst ...
and called himself a Muscovite
Muscovite (also known as common mica, isinglass, or potash mica) is a hydrated phyllosilicate mineral of aluminium and potassium with formula KAl2(Al Si3 O10)( F,O H)2, or ( KF)2( Al2O3)3( SiO2)6( H2O). It has a highly perfect basal cleavage y ...
.
In 1599, Tsar Boris Godunov
Boris Feodorovich Godunov (; ; ) was the ''de facto'' regent of Russia from 1585 to 1598 and then tsar from 1598 to 1605 following the death of Feodor I, the last of the Rurik dynasty. After the end of Feodor's reign, Russia descended into t ...
ordered the construction of Tsareborisov on the banks of Oskol River
The Oskil or Oskol (; ) is a south-flowing river in Russia and Ukraine. It arises roughly between Kursk and Voronezh and flows south to join the Donets, Siverskyi Donets which flows southeast to join the Don (river), Don. It is long, with a dra ...
, the first city and the first fortress in Eastern Ukraine. To defend the territory from Tatar raids the Russians built the Belgorod
Belgorod (, ) is a city that serves as the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River, approximately north of the border with Ukraine. It has a population of
It was founded in 1596 as a defensiv ...
defensive line (1635–1658), and Ukrainians started fleeing to be under its defense.
More Russian speakers
This article details the geographical distribution of Russian-speakers. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the status of the Russian language often became a matter of controversy. Some Post-Soviet states adopted policies of derus ...
appeared in northern, central and eastern Ukrainian territories during the late 17th century, following the Cossack Rebellion
The Cossack uprisings (also kozak rebellions, revolts) were a series of military conflicts between the Cossacks and the states claiming dominion over the territories they lived in, namely the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russian Empire du ...
led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky
Zynoviy Bohdan Mykhailovych Khmelnytsky of the Abdank coat of arms (Ruthenian language, Ruthenian: Ѕѣнові Богданъ Хмелнiцкiи; modern , Polish language, Polish: ; 15956 August 1657) was a Ruthenian nobility, Ruthenian noble ...
. The uprising led to a massive movement of Ukrainian settlers to the Sloboda Ukraine
Sloboda Ukraine, also known locally as ''Slobozhanshchyna'' or ''Slobozhanshchina'', is a historical region in northeastern Ukraine and southwestern Russia. It developed from Belgorod Razriad and flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries on the ...
region, which converted it from a sparsely inhabited frontier area to one of the major populated regions of the Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia, also known as the Tsardom of Moscow, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of tsar by Ivan the Terrible, Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great in 1721.
...
. Following the Treaty of Pereyaslav
The Pereiaslav Agreement or Pereyaslav AgreementPereyaslav Agreement
, Ukrainian Cossacks lands, including the modern northern and eastern parts of Ukraine, became a protectorate of the Tsardom of Russia. This brought the first significant, but still small, wave of Russian settlers into central Ukraine (primarily several thousand soldiers stationed in garrisons, out of a population of approximately 1.2 million non-Russians).
At the end of the 18th century, the Russian Empire captured large uninhabited steppe territories from the former Crimean Khanate
The Crimean Khanate, self-defined as the Throne of Crimea and Desht-i Kipchak, and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary, was a Crimean Tatars, Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783, the longest-lived of th ...
. The systematic colonization of lands in what became known as Novorossiya
Novorossiya rus, Новороссия, Novorossiya, p=nəvɐˈrosʲːɪjə, a=Ru-Новороссия.ogg; , ; ; ; "New Russia". is a historical name, used during the era of the Russian Empire for an administrative area that would later becom ...
(mainly Crimea
Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
, Taurida
The recorded history of the Crimean Peninsula, historically known as ''Tauris'', ''Taurica'' (), and the ''Tauric Chersonese'' (, "Tauric Peninsula"), begins around the 5th century BCE when several Greek colonies were established along its coast ...
and around Odesa
Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...
) began. Migrants from many ethnic groups (predominantly Ukrainians and Russians from Russia proper) came to the area. At the same time, the discovery of coal in the Donets Basin
The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets (), is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv ...
also marked the commencement of a large-scale industrialization and an influx of workers from other parts of the Russian Empire.
Nearly all of the major cities of southern and eastern Ukraine were established or developed in this period: Aleksandrovsk (now Zaporizhzhia
Zaporizhzhia, formerly known as Aleksandrovsk or Oleksandrivsk until 1921, is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia ...
; 1770), Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipro
Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...
; 1776), 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 ...
and Mariupol
Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...
(1778), Sevastopol
Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...
(1783), Simferopol
Simferopol ( ), also known as Aqmescit, is the second-largest city on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, but controlled by Russia. It is considered the cap ...
and Novoaleksandrovka (Melitopol
Melitopol is a city and municipality in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, southeastern Ukraine. It is situated on the Molochna River, which flows through the eastern edge of the city into the Molochnyi Lyman estuary. Melitopol is the second-largest city ...
) (1784), Nikolayev (Mykolaiv
Mykolaiv ( ), also known as Nikolaev ( ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and a hromada (municipality) in southern Ukraine. Mykolaiv is the Administrative centre, administrative center of Mykolaiv Raion (Raions of Ukraine, district) and Myk ...
; 1789), Odessa (Odesa
Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...
; 1794), Lugansk (Luhansk
Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine.
Luhansk served as the administra ...
; foundation of Luhansk plant in 1795).
Both Russians and Ukrainians made up the bulk of the migrants – 31.8% and 42.0% respectively. The population of Novorossiya eventually became intermixed, and with 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 ...
being the state policy, the Russian identity dominated in mixed families and communities. 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 ...
officially regarded Ukrainians, Russians and Belarusians as Little
Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt
* ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film
*The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...
, Great
Great may refer to:
Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
* Artel Great (bo ...
and White Russia
White Russia, White Russian, or Russian White may refer to:
White Russia
*White Ruthenia, a historical reference for a territory in the eastern part of present-day Belarus
* An archaic literal translation for Belarus/Byelorussia/Belorussia
* Rus ...
ns, which, according to the theory officially accepted in the Imperial Russia
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imperial, Nebraska
* Imperial, Pennsylvania
* ...
, belonged to a single Russian nation, the descendants of the people of Kievan Rus
Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,.
* was the first East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of Russ ...
.
In the beginning of the 20th century, Russians were the largest ethnic group in the following cities: Kiev
Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
(54.2%), Kharkov
Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.
(63.1%), Odessa
ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...
(49.09%), Nikolayev (66.33%), Mariupol
Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...
(63.22%), Lugansk
Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the 12th-largest city in Ukraine.
Luhansk served as the administrative center of Luh ...
(68.16%), Berdyansk
Berdiansk or Berdyansk (, ; , ) is a port city in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, south-eastern Ukraine. It is on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov, which is connected to the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Berdiansk Raion. The ...
(66.05%), 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 ...
(47.21%), Melitopol
Melitopol is a city and municipality in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, southeastern Ukraine. It is situated on the Molochna River, which flows through the eastern edge of the city into the Molochnyi Lyman estuary. Melitopol is the second-largest city ...
(42.8%), Yekaterinoslav
Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...
(41.78%), Yelizavetgrad
Kropyvnytskyi (, ) is a city in central Ukraine, situated on the Inhul River. It serves as the administrative center of Kirovohrad Oblast. Population:
Over its history, Kropyvnytskyi has changed its name several times. The settlement was k ...
(34.64%), Pavlograd
Pavlohrad (, ) is a city in eastern Ukraine, located within Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. It serves as the administrative center of Pavlohrad Raion. Its population is approximately
The rivers of Vovcha (runs through the city towards the Samara Rive ...
(34.36%), Simferopol
Simferopol ( ), also known as Aqmescit, is the second-largest city on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, but controlled by Russia. It is considered the cap ...
(45.64%), Feodosiya
Feodosia (, ''Feodosiia, Teodosiia''; , ''Feodosiya''), also called in English Theodosia (from ), is a city on the Crimean coast of the Black Sea. Feodosia serves as the administrative center of Feodosia Municipality, one of the regions into w ...
(46.84%), Yalta
Yalta (: ) is a resort town, resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crime ...
(66.17%), Kerch
Kerch, also known as Keriç or Kerich, is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of Crimea. It has a population of
Founded 2,600 years ago as the Colonies in antiquity#Greek colonies, ancient Greek colony Pantik ...
(57.8%), Sevastopol
Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...
(63.46%), Chuguev
Chuhuiv () or Chuguev () is a city in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. The city is the Capital (political), administrative center of Chuhuiv Raion (district). It hosts the administration of Chuhuiv urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population ...
(86%).Дністрянський М.С. Етнополітична географія України. Лівів. Літопис, видавництво ЛНУ імені Івана Франка, 2006, page 342
Russian Civil War in Ukraine
The first Russian Empire Census, conducted in 1897, showed extensive usage (and in some cases dominance) of the Little Russian, a contemporary term for theUkrainian 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 ...
, in the nine south-western Governorates and Kuban
Kuban ( Russian and Ukrainian: Кубань; ) is a historical and geographical region in the North Caucasus region of southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Don Steppe, the Volga Delta and separated fr ...
. Thus, when the Central Rada
The Central Rada of Ukraine, also called the Central Council (), was the All-Ukrainian council that united deputies of soldiers, workers, and peasants deputies as well as few members of political, public, cultural and professional organizations o ...
officials were outlining the future borders of the new Ukrainian state they took the results of the census in regards to the language and religion as determining factors. The ethnographic borders of Ukraine thus turned out to be almost twice as large as the original Bohdan Khmelnytsky
Zynoviy Bohdan Mykhailovych Khmelnytsky of the Abdank coat of arms (Ruthenian language, Ruthenian: Ѕѣнові Богданъ Хмелнiцкiи; modern , Polish language, Polish: ; 15956 August 1657) was a Ruthenian nobility, Ruthenian noble ...
State
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
incorporated into 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 ...
during the 17-18th centuries.
During World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, a strong national movement managed to obtain some autonomous rights from the Russian government in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
. However, the October Revolution
The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
brought big changes for the new Russian Republic
The Russian Republic,. referred to as the Russian Democratic Federative Republic in the 1918 Constitution, was a short-lived state which controlled, ''de jure'', the territory of the former Russian Empire after its proclamation by the Rus ...
. Ukraine became a battleground between the two main Russian war factions during the Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...
(1918–1922), the Communist Reds (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 ...
) and the Anti-Bolshevik Whites (Volunteer Army
The Volunteer Army (; ), abbreviated to (), also known as the Southern White Army was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1920. The Volunteer Army fought against Bolsheviks and the Makhnovists on the ...
).
The October Revolution
The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
also found its echo amongst the extensive working class, and several Soviet Republics were formed by the Bolsheviks in Ukraine: the Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets
The Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets (; ) was a short-lived (1917–1918) Soviet republic of the Russian SFSR that was created by the declaration of the Kharkiv All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets "About the self-determination of Ukraine" ...
, Soviet Socialist Republic of Taurida, Odessa Soviet Republic
The Odessa Soviet Republic (OSR; ; ) was a short-lived Republics of the Soviet Union, Soviet republic formed on from parts of the Kherson Governorate, Kherson and Bessarabia Governorates of the former Russian Empire.
Brief description
The r ...
and the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Republic.
The Russian SFSR government supported military intervention against 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, ...
, which at different periods controlled most of the territory of present-day Ukraine with the exception of Crimea and Western Ukraine. Although there were differences between Ukrainian Bolsheviks initially, which resulted in the proclamation of several Soviet Republics in 1917, later, due in large part to pressure from Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...
and other Bolshevik leaders, one 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. ...
was proclaimed.
The Ukrainian SSR was ''de jure
In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...
'' a separate state until the formation of the USSR in 1922 and survived until the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Lenin insisted that ignoring the national question in Ukraine would endanger the support of the Revolution among the Ukrainian population and thus new borders of Soviet Ukraine were established to the extent that 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, ...
was claiming in 1918. The new borders completely included Novorossiya
Novorossiya rus, Новороссия, Novorossiya, p=nəvɐˈrosʲːɪjə, a=Ru-Новороссия.ogg; , ; ; ; "New Russia". is a historical name, used during the era of the Russian Empire for an administrative area that would later becom ...
(including the short-lived Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic) and other neighboring provinces, which contained a substantial number of ethnic Russians.
Ukrainization in Early Soviet times
In his 1923 speech devoted to the national and ethnic issues in the party and state affairs,Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
identified several obstacles in implementing the national program of the party. Those were the "dominant-nation chauvinism", "economic and cultural inequality" of the nationalities and the "survivals of nationalism among a number of nations which have borne the heavy yoke of national oppression".
In Ukraine's case, both threats came, respectively, from the south and the east: Novorossiya with its historically strong Russian cultural influence, and the traditional Ukrainian center and west. These considerations brought about a policy of Ukrainization
Ukrainization or Ukrainisation ( ) is a policy or practice of increasing the usage and facilitating the development of the Ukrainian language and promoting other elements of Ukrainian culture in various spheres of public life such as education, ...
, to simultaneously break the remains of the Great Russia
Great Russia, sometimes Great Rus' ( , ; , ; , ), is a name formerly applied to the territories of "Russia proper", the land that formed the core of the Grand Duchy of Moscow and later the Tsardom of Russia. This was the land to which the e ...
n attitude and to gain popularity among the Ukrainian population, thus recognizing their dominance of the republic. The Ukrainian language was mandatory for most jobs, and its teaching became compulsory in all schools.
By the early 1930s attitudes towards the policy of Ukrainization had changed within the Soviet leadership. In 1933 Stalin declared that local nationalism was the main threat to Soviet unity. Consequently, many changes introduced during the Ukrainization period were reversed: Russian language schools, libraries and newspapers were restored and even increased in number. Changes were brought territorially as well, forcing the Ukrainian SSR to cede some territories to the RSFSR. Thousands of ethnic Ukrainians were deported to the far east of the Soviet Union, numerous villages with Ukrainian majority were eliminated with 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 ...
, while remaining Ukrainians were subjected to discrimination. During this period parents in the Ukrainian SSR could choose to send their children whose native language was not Ukrainian to schools with Russian as the primary language of instruction.
Later Soviet times
The territory of Ukraine was one of the main battlefields duringWorld 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 ...
, and its population, including Russians, significantly decreased. The infrastructure was heavily damaged and it required human and capital resources to be rebuilt. This compounded with depopulation caused by two famines of 1931–1932 and a third in 1947 to leave the territory with a greatly reduced population. A large portion of the wave of new migrants to industrialize, integrate and Sovietize the recently acquired western Ukrainian territories were ethnic Russians who mostly settled around industrial centers and military garrisons.Терлюк І.Я. Росіяни західних областей України (1944–1996 р.р.) (Етносоціологічне дослідження). – Львів: Центр Європи, 1997.- С.25. This increased the proportion of the Russian speaking population.
Near the end of the War, the entire population of Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...
(numbering up to a quarter of a million) was expelled from their homeland in Crimea 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 ...
, under accusations of collaborations with Germans. The Crimea was repopulated by the new wave of Russian and Ukrainian settlers and the Russian proportion of the population of Crimea went up significantly (from 47.7% in 1937 to 61.6% in 1993) and the Ukrainian proportion doubled (12.8% in 1937 and 23.6% in 1993).
The Ukrainian language remained a mandatory subject of study in all Russian schools, but in many government offices preference was given to the Russian language that gave an additional impetus to the advancement of Russification
Russification (), 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 ...
. The 1979 census showed that only one third of ethnic Russians spoke the Ukrainian language fluently.
In 1954, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet () was the standing body of the highest body of state authority in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).The Presidium of the Soviet Union is, in short, the legislative branch of the great Soviet ...
issued the decree on the transfer of the Crimean Oblast
In 1954, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union transferred the Crimea in the Soviet Union, Crimean Oblast from the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian ...
from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR. This action increased the ethnic Russian population of Ukraine by almost a million people. Many Russian politicians considered the transfer to be controversial. Controversies and legality of the transfer remained a sore point in relations between Ukraine and Russia for a few years, and in particular in the internal politics in Crimea. However, in a 1997 treaty between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, Russia recognized Ukraine's borders and accepted Ukraine's sovereignty over Crimea.Ukraine: A History. Subtelny, Orest University of Toronto Press
The University of Toronto Press is a Canadian university press. Although it was founded in 1901, the press did not actually publish any books until 1911.
The press originally printed only examination books and the university calendar. Its first s ...
2000, , 600
Ukraine after the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine became an independent state. This independence was supported by thereferendum
A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
in all regions of Ukrainian SSR, including those with large Russian populations. A study of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU; , ; ''NAN Ukrainy'') is a self-governing state-funded organization in Ukraine that is the main center of development of Science and technology in Ukraine, science and technology by coordinatin ...
found that in 1991, 75% of ethnic Russians in Ukraine no longer identified themselves with the Russian nation. In the December 1991 Ukrainian independence referendum 55% of the ethnic Russians in Ukraine voted for independence.
The return of Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...
has resulted in several high-profile clashes over land ownership and employment rights.
In 1994 a referendum took place in the Donetsk Oblast
Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna (, ), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its capital city, administrative centre is Donetsk, though d ...
and the Luhansk Oblast
Luhansk Oblast (; ), also referred to as Luhanshchyna (), is the easternmost Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the n ...
, with around 90% supporting 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 ...
gaining status of an official language alongside Ukrainian, and for 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 ...
to be an official language on a regional level; however, the referendum was annulled by the Kyiv
Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
government.
Much controversy has surrounded the reduction of schools with Russian as their main language of instruction. In 1989, there were 4,633 schools with Russian as the main instruction language, and by 2001 this number fell to 2,001 schools or 11.8% of the total in the country. A significant number of these Russian schools were converted into schools in with both Russian and Ukrainian language classes. By 2007, 20% of pupils in public schools studied in Russian classes.
Some regions such as Rivne Oblast
Rivne Oblast (), also referred to as Rivnenshchyna (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast in western Ukraine. Its administrative center is Rivne. The surface area of the region is . Its population is:
Before its annexation by the ...
have no schools with Russian only instruction left, but only Russian classes provided in the mixed Russian-Ukrainian schools. As of May 2007, only seven schools with Russian as the main language of instruction are left in Kyiv, with 17 more mixed language schools totaling 8,000 pupils,Шестая часть киевских школьников изучает русский язык''
Korrespondent.net
The ''Korrespondent.net'' ( ; ; literally: ''Correspondent'') is an online newspaper in Ukraine launched in 2000. It is a sister project to the ''Korrespondent'' printed weekly magazine also containing the latter's reduced free online version. ''K ...
'', May 29, 2007 with the rest of the pupils attending the schools with Ukrainian being the only language of instruction. Among the latter pupils, 45,700 (or 18% of the total) study the Russian language as a separate subject in the largely Russophone Ukrainian capital,In the 2003 sociological survey in Kyiv the answers to the question 'What language do you use in everyday life?' were distributed as follows: 'mostly Russian': 52%, 'both Russian and Ukrainian in equal measure': 32%, 'mostly Ukrainian': 14%, 'exclusively Ukrainian': 4.3%.. although an estimated 70 percent of Ukraine's population nationwide consider that Russian should be taught at secondary schools along with Ukrainian. The Russian Cultural Center in Lviv has been attacked and vandalized on several occasions. On January 22, 1992, it was raided by UNA-UNSO led by the member of
Lviv Oblast
Lviv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Lvivshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast in western Ukraine. The capital city, capital of the oblast is the city of Lviv. The current population is
History Name
The region is named ...
Council. UNA-UNSO members searched the building, partially destroyed archives and pushed people out from the building. Their attackers declared that everything in Ukraine belonged to the Ukrainians, so the Russians and the Jews
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
were not allowed to reside or have property there. The building was vandalized during the Papal Visit to Lviv in 2001, then in 2003 (5 times), 2004 (during the Orange Revolution
The Orange Revolution () was a series of protests that led to political upheaval in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005. It gained momentum primarily due to the initiative of the general population, sparked by the aftermath of the ...
), 2005, 2006.
After the 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 ...
events, regions with a large ethnic Russian populations became the scene of Anti-Maidan
The anti-Maidan (; ) refers to a number of pro-Russian demonstrations in Ukraine in 2013 and 2014 that were directed against Euromaidan and later the new Ukrainian government. The initial participants were in favor of supporting the cabinet of ...
protests and Russian-backed separatist activity. After being seized by Russian unmarked troops, the Supreme Council of Crimea
Verkhovna Rada of Crimea or the Supreme Council of Crimea, officially the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, was the Ukrainian legislative body for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea before the annexation of Crimea by Russi ...
announced the 2014 Crimean referendum
The Crimean status referendum of 2014 was a disputed referendum on March 16, 2014, concerning the status of Crimea that was conducted in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (both subdivisions of Ukraine) after Russi ...
, and sent a request to 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 ...
to send military forces into the Crimea
Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
to "protect" the local population from Euromaidan protesters, which marked the beginning of the Russian annexation of Crimea. Major Anti-Maidan
The anti-Maidan (; ) refers to a number of pro-Russian demonstrations in Ukraine in 2013 and 2014 that were directed against Euromaidan and later the new Ukrainian government. The initial participants were in favor of supporting the cabinet of ...
protests took place in other Russian speaking major cities like 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 ...
, Odesa
Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...
, and Kharkiv
Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.
. After the elected regional parliament of the Donetsk Oblast
Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna (, ), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its capital city, administrative centre is Donetsk, though d ...
refused to comply with the demands of the pro-Russian protesters, the secessionists decided to create their own council consisting of unelected separatist individuals, which in its first session voted to conduct a referendum on deciding the future of the region.
On 3 March, a number of people, including Russian nationals with "clear Russian accents", who referred to themselves as "tourists", started storming the regional administration building in 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 ...
, waving Russian flags and shouting ″Russia!″ and ″ Berkut are heroes!″. The police was not able to offer much resistance, and was quickly overrun by the crowd. The regional council in Luhansk
Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine.
Luhansk served as the administra ...
, in which the party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, 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 oft ...
of ousted pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovich
Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (born 9 July 1950) is a Ukrainian politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014. He also served as the prime minister of Ukraine several times between 2002 and 2007 and was a member of t ...
held an absolute majority, voted to demand granting 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 ...
the status as second official language, stopping ″the persecution of Berkut fighters″, disarming Maidan self-defense units and banning a number far-right
Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...
political organizations like Svoboda
Svoboda () means "freedom" in various Slavic languages. It may refer to:
People
* Svoboda (surname)
Organizations Media
* Radio Svoboda, operated by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
* ''Svoboda'' (newspaper), a daily Ukrainian language newspa ...
and UNA-UNSO. If the authorities failed to comply with the demands, the Oblast council reserved itself the ″right to ask for help from the brotherly people of the Russian Federation.″
The pro-Russian protests in 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 ...
and Luhansk
Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine.
Luhansk served as the administra ...
oblasts
An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...
of the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in 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 ...
escalated into an armed separatist insurgency, which was backed by Russian special
Special or specials may refer to:
Policing
* Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force
* Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer
* Special police forces
...
and regular
Regular may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* "Regular" (Badfinger song)
* Regular tunings of stringed instruments, tunings with equal intervals between the paired notes of successive open strings
Other uses
* Regular character, ...
forces. This led the Ukrainian government to launch a military counter-offensive against the insurgents in April 2014. During this war, major cities like Luhansk
Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine.
Luhansk served as the administra ...
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 ...
have seen heavy shelling. According to the United Nations, 730,000 refugee
A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
s from the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts have fled to Russia since the beginning of 2014. Approximately 14,200 people, including 3,404 civilians, have died from 2014-2022 because of the war.
Ruslan Stefanchuk
Ruslan Oleksiyovych Stefanchuk (; born 29 October 1975) is a Ukrainian politician and lawyer serving as the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada since October 2021.
Stefanchuk was touted as the ideologue of Volodymyr Zelenskyy's election campaign in ...
, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, said that there is no "Russian ethnic minority" in Ukraine and that "if these people show aggression rather than respect towards Ukraine, then their rights should be correspondingly suppressed."
Discrimination
In total, according to a 2007 country-wide survey by the Institute of Sociology, only 0.5% of the respondents describe as belonging to a group that faces discrimination by language. Furthermore, in a poll held October 2008, 42.8% of the Ukrainian respondents said they regard Russia as “very good” while 44.9% said their attitude was “good" (87% positive).
According to the Institute of Sociology surveys conducted yearly between 1995 and 2005, the percentage of respondents who have encountered cases of ethnic-based discrimination against Russians during the preceding year has consistently been low (mostly in single digits), with no noticeable difference when compared with the number of incidents directed against any other nation, including the Ukrainians and the Jews.See Panina, p. 48 According to the 2007 Comparative Survey of Ukraine and Europe only 0.1% of Ukrainian residents consider themselves belonging to a group which is discriminated by nationality. However, by April 2017 in a public opinion survey conducted by Rating Group Ukraine, 57 percent of Ukrainians polled expressed a very cold or cold attitude toward Russia, as opposed to only 17 percent who expressed a very warm or warm attitude.
Some surveys indicate that Russians are not socially distanced in Ukraine. The indicator of the willingness of Ukraine's residents to participate in social contacts of varying degrees of closeness with different ethnic groups (the Bogardus Social Distance Scale
The Bogardus social distance scale is a psychological testing scale created by Emory S. Bogardus to empirically measure people's willingness to participate in social contacts of varying degrees of closeness with members of diverse social groups, ...
) calculated based on the yearly sociological surveys has been consistently showing that Russians are, on the average, least socially distanced within Ukraine except the Ukrainians themselves.Panina, pp. 49–57 The same survey has shown that, in fact, that Ukrainian people are slightly more comfortable accepting Russians into their families than they are accepting Ukrainians living abroad. Such social attitude correlates with the political one as the surveys taken yearly between 1997 and 2005 consistently indicated that the attitude to the idea of Ukraine joining the union of Russia and Belarus is more positive (slightly over 50%) than negative (slightly under 30%).Panina, p. 29
Russian political refugees in Ukraine
Since Dignity Revolution the Russian government dramatically increased the anti-opposition campaign which resulted in politically motivated cases against Russian liberal opposition. As a result, many notable Russians moved to Ukraine to avoid political prosecution in Russia. Notable examples are Ilya Ponomaryov (the only member of parliament who voted against the annexation of Crimea), journalists Matvey Ganapolsky,Arkadiy Babchenko
Arkady Arkadyevich Babchenko (; born 18 March 1977) is a Russian print and television journalist, From 1995, Babchenko served in the communication corps in the North Caucasus while participating in the First Chechen War. He later volunteered for ...
, Evgeny Kiselyov, Alexander Nevzorov
Alexander Glebovich (Oleksandr Hlibovych) Nevzorov (; Ukrainian: Олександр Глібович Невзоров; born on 3 August 1958) is a Russian and Ukrainian television journalist, film director and a former member of the Russian S ...
and others.
According to the statistics presented by the United Nation's Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in 2014 approximately 140 Russians applied for political asylum in Ukraine. In the first six months of 2015 this number grew by fifty people more.
In the same time Ukrainian migration policies are complicated and limit the number of Russians who can successfully apply for a refugee status.
Russophobia
The ultra-nationalist political party "Svoboda" has invoked radical Russophobic rhetoric and has electoral support enough to garner majority support in local councils, as seen in the Ternopil regional council in Western Ukraine. In 2004Oleh Tyahnybok
Oleh Yaroslavovych Tyahnybok (, born 7 November 1968) is a Ukrainian politician and far-right activist who is the leader of the Svoboda political party.Ukraine's government in 2014. But the party lost 30 seats of the 37 seats (its first seats in the
''Podrobnosti'', December 04, 2006.
''
pdf
), p. 58 At the same time, this is not viewed as an important issue by most of Ukraine's citizens. On a cross-national survey involving ranking the 30 important political issues, the legal status of the Russian language was ranked 26th, with only 8% of respondents (concentrated primarily in Crimea and Donetsk) feeling that this was an important issue. Russian continues to dominate in several regions and in Ukrainian businesses, in leading Ukrainian magazines, and other printed media.
There are small minorities of
, ''
Ukrainian Parliament
The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovna Rada building in Ukraine's capi ...
it had won in the 2012 parliamentary election) in the late October 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election
Fourteen or 14 may refer to:
* 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15
* one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014
Music
* 14th (band), a British electronic music duo
* ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013
*''14'', an un ...
Ukraine election:President Yanukovych party claims winBBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
(29 October 2012). and did not return to Ukraine's government.
Russian language
According to 2006 survey by Research & Branding Group (Donetsk) 39% of Ukrainian citizens think that the rights of the Russophones are violated because the Russian language is not official in the country, whereas 38% of the citizens have the opposite position.Большинство украинцев говорят на русском языке''Podrobnosti'', December 04, 2006.
''
REGNUM Regnum may refer to:
* Latin for kingdom or dominion, see realm
* ''Regnum'', Latin word for Kingdom (biology)
* REGNUM News Agency, a Russian news agency
* '' Champions of Regnum'', a computer game
* An online database for PhyloCode
The ''Intern ...
'', December 04, 2006 According to annual surveys by the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...
43.9% to 52.0% of the total population of Ukraine supports the idea of granting the status of state language to Russian.Natalia Panina, "Ukrainian Society 1994–2005: Sociological Monitoring", ''Sophia'', Kyiv, 2005, ,), p. 58 At the same time, this is not viewed as an important issue by most of Ukraine's citizens. On a cross-national survey involving ranking the 30 important political issues, the legal status of the Russian language was ranked 26th, with only 8% of respondents (concentrated primarily in Crimea and Donetsk) feeling that this was an important issue. Russian continues to dominate in several regions and in Ukrainian businesses, in leading Ukrainian magazines, and other printed media.
Russian language in Ukraine
Russian language, Russian is the most common first language in the Donbas and Crimea regions of Ukraine and the city of Kharkiv, and the predominant language in large cities in the East Ukraine, eastern and South Ukraine, southern portions of ...
still dominates the everyday life in some areas of the country.
On February 23, 2014, the Ukrainian parliament
The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovna Rada building in Ukraine's capi ...
adopted a bill to repeal the 2012 law on minority languages, which—if signed by the Ukrainian president—would have established Ukrainian as the sole official state language of all Ukraine, including Crimea which is populated by a Russian-speaking majority. Repeal of the law was met with great disdain in Southern and Eastern Ukraine. ''The Christian Science Monitor'' reported: "The doption of this billonly served to infuriate Russian-speaking regions, hosaw the move as more evidence that the antigovernment protests in Kiev that toppled Yanukovich's government were intent on pressing for a nationalistic agenda." A proposal to repeal the law was vetoed on 28 February 2014 by acting president Oleksandr Turchynov
Oleksandr Valentynovych Turchynov (, ; born 31 March 1964) is a Ukrainians, Ukrainian politician, screenwriter, Baptists in Ukraine, Baptist minister and economist. He is the former Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukra ...
. On 28 February 2018 the Constitutional Court of Ukraine
The Constitutional Court of Ukraine (, ) is the sole body of constitutional jurisdiction in Ukraine. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine interprets the Constitution of Ukraine in terms of laws and other legal acts.
The Court initiated its ac ...
ruled the 2012 law on minority languages unconstitutional.Constitutional Court declares unconstitutional language law of Kivalov-KolesnichenkoUkrinform
The National News Agency of Ukraine (), or Ukrinform (), is a state information and news agency, and international broadcaster of Ukraine. It was founded in 1918 during the Ukrainian War of IndependencePetro Poroshenko
Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...
(draft approved by Rada on September 5, 2017) which says that 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 the language of education at all levels except for one or more subjects that are allowed to be taught in two or more languages, namely English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Culture, language and peoples
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
* ''English'', an Amish ter ...
or one of the other official languages of the European Union
The European Union (EU) has 24 official languages, of which three English, French and Germanwere considered "procedural" languages, but this notion was abandoned by the European Commission (whereas the European Parliament accepts all offic ...
. The law faced criticism from officials in Russia and Hungary. According to the ''New Europe'':
The ''Unian'' reported that "A ban on the use of cultural products, namely movies, books, songs, etc., in the Russian language in the public has been introduced" in the Lviv Oblast
Lviv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Lvivshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast in western Ukraine. The capital city, capital of the oblast is the city of Lviv. The current population is
History Name
The region is named ...
in September 2018.
Authors
Some authors born in Ukraine who write in the Russian language, notablyMarina and Sergey Dyachenko
Spouses Maryna Yuryivna Dyachenko (, born January 23, 1968) and Serhiy Serhiyovych Dyachenko (April 14, 1945 – May 5, 2022) are co-authors of fantasy literature from Ukraine writing in Russian language, Russian. Three of their novels have been ...
and Vera Kamsha, were born in Ukraine, but moved to Russia at some point. Marina and Sergey Dyachenko later moved to California.
Russo-Ukrainian War
In March 2022, during theSiege of Mariupol
The siege of Mariupol began on 24 February 2022 and lasted until 20 May, as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It saw fighting between the Russian Armed Forces (alongside the Donetsk People's Republic People's Militia) and the Ukrainian ...
, Mariupol's deputy mayor Serhiy Orlov said that "Half of those killed by Russian bombing are Russian-origin Ukrainians."
Demographics
Trends
In general the population of ethnic Russians in Ukraine increased due to assimilation and in-migration between 1897 and 1939 despite the famine, war and Revolution. Since 1991 it has decreased drastically in all regions, both quantitatively and proportionally. Ukraine in general lost 3 million Russians, or a little over one-quarter of all Russians living there in the 10-year period between 1991 and 2001, dropping from over 22% of the population of Ukraine to just over 17%. In the past 22 years since 2001, a further drop of Russian numbers has continued. Several factors have affected this – most Russians lived in urban centres in Soviet times and thus were hit the hardest by the economic hardships of the 1990s. Some chose to emigrate from Ukraine to (mostly) Russia or to the West. Finally some of those who were counted as Russians in Soviet times declared themselves Ukrainian during the last census. The Russian population is also hit by the factors that affected all the population of Ukraine, such as low birth rate and high death rate.Numbers
2001 census showed that 95.9% of Russians in Ukraine consider the Russian language to be native for them, 3.9% named Ukrainian to be their native language.Дністрянський М.С. Етнополітична географія України. Лівів, Літопис, видавництво ЛНУ імені Івана Франка, 2006, page 261, The majority, 59.6%Дністрянський М.С. Етнополітична географія України. Лівів, Літопис, видавництво ЛНУ імені Івана Франка, 2006, page 259, of Ukrainian Russians were born in Ukraine. They constitute 22.4% of all urban population and 6.9% of rural population in the country. Women make up 55.1% of Russians, men are 44.9%. The average age of Russians in Ukraine is 41.9 years. The imbalance in sexual and age structure intensifies in western and central regions. In these regions the Russians are concentrated in the industrial centers, particularly the oblast centres.Current demographic trends
Religion
The majority of the Russians are Christians of theEastern Orthodox Faith
Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millenniu ...
and predominantly belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, a former Ukrainian exarchate
An exarchate is any territorial jurisdiction, either secular or ecclesiastical, whose ruler is called an exarch. Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Con ...
of the Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
, which received an ecclesiastical Autonomy from the latter on October 27, 1990.Определение Архиерейского Собора Русской Православной Церкви 25 – 27 октября 1990 года об Украинской Православной ЦерквиThere are small minorities of
Old Believers
Old Believers or Old Ritualists ( Russian: староверы, ''starovery'' or старообрядцы, ''staroobryadtsy'') is the common term for several religious groups, which maintain the old liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian ...
, notably Lipovans
The Lipovans or Lippovans are ethnic Russians, Russian Old Believers living in Romania, Ukraine, Moldova and Bulgaria who settled in the Principality of Moldavia, in the east of the Principality of Wallachia (Muntenia), and in the regions of D ...
, as well as Protestants, indigenous Spiritual Christians
Spiritual Christianity () is the group of belief systems held by so-called folk Protestants (), including non-Eastern Orthodox indigenous faith tribes and new religious movements that emerged in the Russian Empire. Their origins are varied: some ...
, and Catholics among Russians. In addition, there is a sizable portion of those who consider themselves atheists
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
.
Politics
Elections
Political parties whose electoral platforms are crafted specifically to cater to the Russian voters' sentiments fared exceptionally well. Until the2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election
Fourteen or 14 may refer to:
* 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15
* one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014
Music
* 14th (band), a British electronic music duo
* ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013
*''14'', an un ...
several of Ukraine's elections, political parties that call for closer ties with Russia received a higher percentage of votes in the areas where Russian-speaking population predominate.
Parties like the 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 ...
, 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 ...
and the Progressive Socialist Party
The Progressive Socialist Party () is a Lebanese political party. Its confessional base is in the Druze sect and its regional base is in Mount Lebanon Governorate, especially the Chouf District. Founded by Kamal Jumblatt in 1949, the party ...
were particularly popular in Crimea, Southern and Southeastern regions of Ukraine. In the 2002 parliamentary election, the mainstream 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 ...
, with a stronghold based on Eastern and Southern Ukraine came first with 32.14%, ahead of its two nationally conscious main rivals, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc
The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc () was the name of the bloc of political parties in Ukraine led by Yulia Tymoshenko since 2001. In November 2011, the participation of blocs of political parties in parliamentary elections was banned.
(22.29%) and Our Ukraine Bloc (13.95%), while also Russophile 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 ...
collected 3.66% and the radically pro-Russian Nataliya Vitrenko Bloc 2.93% coming closest of the small parties to overcoming the 3% barrier.Central Election Commission of Ukraine, ''
Ukrainska Pravda
''Ukrainska Pravda'' is a Ukrainian socio-political online media outlet founded by Heorhii Gongadze in April 2000. After Gongadze’s death in September 2000, the editorial team was led by co-founder Olena Prytula, who remained the editor-in ...
''
In the 2007 parliamentary election, the 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 ...
came first with 34.37% (losing 130,000 votes), the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc
The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc () was the name of the bloc of political parties in Ukraine led by Yulia Tymoshenko since 2001. In November 2011, the participation of blocs of political parties in parliamentary elections was banned.
second with 31.71% (winning 1.5 million votes), the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc
The Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc (, Russian language, Russian: Блок Наша Украина – Народная Самооборона, ''Blok Nasha Ukraina – Narodnaya Samooborona,'' NUNS; until 2007 named Our Ukraine Bloc) w ...
third with 14.15% (losing 238,000 votes), 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 ...
fourth with 5.39% (winning 327,000 votes) while the Nataliya Vitrenko Bloc dropped to 1.32%. Although the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc attracted most of its voters from Western Ukrainian, Ukrainian-speaking provinces (Oblasts
An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...
), it had in recent years recruited several politicians from Russian-speaking provinces like Crimea (Lyudmyla Denisova
Liudmyla Leontiivna Denisova (born 6 July 1960) is a Ukrainian politician. After twice serving as Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine, Denisova worked as Ombudsman for Human Rights in Ukraine from March 2018 to May 2022. Ukrayinska Pravd ...
) and Luhansk Oblast
Luhansk Oblast (; ), also referred to as Luhanshchyna (), is the easternmost Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the n ...
(Natalia Korolevska
Natalia Yuriivna Korolevska (; born 18 May 1975Biography
, Довідники про сучасн ...
). In the 2012 parliamentary election Party of Regions again won 30% and the largest number of seats while , Довідники про сучасн ...
Fatherland
A homeland is a place where a national or ethnic identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic nation ...
(successor to Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc) came second with 25.54%.After the parliamentary elections in Ukraine: a tough victory for the Party of RegionsCentre for Eastern Studies
The Centre for Eastern Studies (, OSW) is a Warsaw-based think tank that undertakes independent research on the political, economic and social situation in Central and Eastern Europe, Balkans, Caucasus and Central Asia.
The centre was founded i ...
(7 November 2012) The Communist Party of Ukraine raised its percentage of the votes in this election to 13.18%.With all party lists ballots counted, Regions Party gets 30%, Batkivschyna 25.54%, UDAR 13.96%, Communists 13.18%, Svoboda 10.44%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 ...
(November 8, 2012)
In the 2014 parliamentary election the Party of Regions successor Opposition Bloc
The Opposition Bloc (, ) was a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine that was founded in 2014 by the merger of six parties that did not endorse Euromaidan. Legally, the party was created by renaming the lesser-known party "Leading Force".
was overrun by the non-pro-Russian Petro Poroshenko Bloc
European Solidarity (, ; , YeS) is a political party in Ukraine. It has its roots in a parliamentary group called Solidarity dating from 2000 and has existed since in various forms as a political outlet for Petro Poroshenko. The party with its the ...
in southern regions. In the election Opposition Bloc scored 9.43%, finishing fourth.Poroshenko Bloc to have greatest number of seats in parliamentUkrinform
The National News Agency of Ukraine (), or Ukrinform (), is a state information and news agency, and international broadcaster of Ukraine. It was founded in 1918 during the Ukrainian War of IndependencePeople's Front 0.33% ahead of Poroshenko Bloc with all ballots counted in Ukraine elections - CEC
Poroshenko Bloc to get 132 seats in parliament - CEC
Ukraine’s Elections Mark a Historic Break With Russia and Its Soviet Past
Central Election Commission announces official results of Rada election on party tickets
by
by
UKRAINE: Yushchenko needs Tymoshenko as ally again
by
Without provocateurs and Russophobes Crimea seeking solutions to Ukrainian-Russian problems
, ''
''
Фашистский друг Витренко
''
При штурмі СБУ в Києві арештовано 10 активістів ЄСМ
14.06.2006
Some observers point out the Russian government and the
Once more into the valley of death?
October 24, 2004 The publications and protest actions of these organizations feature strongly pro-Russian and radically anti-NATO messages, invoking the rhetoric of "Ukrainian-Russian historic unity", "NATO criminality", and other similar claims. Some observers link the resurgence of radical Russian organizations in Ukraine with
Interfax-Ukraine
Interfax-Ukraine () is a Ukrainian news agency. Founded in 1992, the company publishes in Ukrainian, Russian, English and German.
The company owns a 50-seat press centre.
The staff of the agency is 105 people (as of the end of February 2022)
...
(8 November 2014)Poroshenko Bloc to get 132 seats in parliament - CEC
Interfax-Ukraine
Interfax-Ukraine () is a Ukrainian news agency. Founded in 1992, the company publishes in Ukrainian, Russian, English and German.
The company owns a 50-seat press centre.
The staff of the agency is 105 people (as of the end of February 2022)
...
(8 November 2014) Opposition Bloc gained most votes East 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 " ...
, but scored second best in former Party of Regions stronghold South Ukraine
Southern Ukraine (, ) refers, generally, to the territories in the South of Ukraine.
The territory usually corresponds with the Soviet economical district, the Southern Economical District of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The region ...
(trailing behind Petro Poroshenko Bloc
European Solidarity (, ; , YeS) is a political party in Ukraine. It has its roots in a parliamentary group called Solidarity dating from 2000 and has existed since in various forms as a political outlet for Petro Poroshenko. The party with its the ...
).Kharkiv, Luhansk, Zaporizhia regions prefer Opposition BlocInterfax-Ukraine
Interfax-Ukraine () is a Ukrainian news agency. Founded in 1992, the company publishes in Ukrainian, Russian, English and German.
The company owns a 50-seat press centre.
The staff of the agency is 105 people (as of the end of February 2022)
...
(27.10.2014) The Communist Party of Ukraine was eliminated from representation in the election because it failed to overcome the 5% election threshold
The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature.
This limit can operate in various w ...
with its 3.87% of the votes.Ukrainian Communist leader Symonenko not planning to leave countryInterfax-Ukraine
Interfax-Ukraine () is a Ukrainian news agency. Founded in 1992, the company publishes in Ukrainian, Russian, English and German.
The company owns a 50-seat press centre.
The staff of the agency is 105 people (as of the end of February 2022)
...
(29 October 2014)Ukraine’s Elections Mark a Historic Break With Russia and Its Soviet Past
Time magazine
''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...
(October 27, 2014)General official results of Rada electionInterfax-Ukraine
Interfax-Ukraine () is a Ukrainian news agency. Founded in 1992, the company publishes in Ukrainian, Russian, English and German.
The company owns a 50-seat press centre.
The staff of the agency is 105 people (as of the end of February 2022)
...
(11 November 2014)Central Election Commission announces official results of Rada election on party tickets
Interfax-Ukraine
Interfax-Ukraine () is a Ukrainian news agency. Founded in 1992, the company publishes in Ukrainian, Russian, English and German.
The company owns a 50-seat press centre.
The staff of the agency is 105 people (as of the end of February 2022)
...
(11 November 2014) Because 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 ...
and the unilateral annexation of Crimea
Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
by 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 ...
elections were not held in Crimea and also not in large parts of Donbas
The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...
, both were before stronghold of the Party of Regions and the Communist Party of Ukraine.Ukraine crisis: President calls snap vote amid fightingBBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
(25 August 2014)Communist and Post-Communist Parties in Europeby
Uwe Backes
Uwe Backes (born 2 February 1960 in Greimerath) is a German political scientist
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and ...
and Patrick Moreau
Patrick Moreau (born 3 November 1973) is a French former professional footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, Americ ...
, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (V&R) is a scholarly publishing house based in Göttingen, Germany. It was founded in 1735 by (1700–1750) in connection with the establishment of the Georg-August-Universität in the same city.
After Abraham Vandenh ...
, 2008, (page 396)Ukraine right-wing politics: is the genie out of the bottle?openDemocracy.net
openDemocracy is an independent media platform and news website based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2001, openDemocracy states that through reporting and analysis of social and political issues, they seek to "challenge power and encourage d ...
(January 3, 2011)Eight Reasons Why Ukraine’s Party of Regions Will Win the 2012 Electionsby
Taras Kuzio
Taras Kuzio is a Professor of Political Science at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy ( Kyiv, Ukraine). His area of study is Russian and Ukrainian political, economic and security affairs.
Education
Taras Kuzio is of Ukrainian de ...
, The Jamestown Foundation
The Jamestown Foundation is a Washington, D.C.–based non-partisan defense policy think tank. Founded in 1984 as a platform to support Soviet defectors, its stated mission is to inform and educate policy makers about events and trends, which i ...
(17 October 2012)UKRAINE: Yushchenko needs Tymoshenko as ally again
by
Taras Kuzio
Taras Kuzio is a Professor of Political Science at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy ( Kyiv, Ukraine). His area of study is Russian and Ukrainian political, economic and security affairs.
Education
Taras Kuzio is of Ukrainian de ...
, Oxford Analytica
Oxford Analytica is an international consulting firm providing strategic analysis of world events. It was founded in 1975 by David Young, an American employee of the National Security Council during the Nixon administration.
Clients of Oxford A ...
(5 October 2007)
Pro-Russian movements in Ukraine
In 2014, there were political parties and movements in Ukraine that advocated a pro-Russian policy, and pro-Russian political organizations. Many of these were opposed to Ukrainian independence and openly advocated for the restoration of theRussian 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 ...
. Few in number, they generated media coverage and political commentary.
The actions organized by these organizations are most visible in the Ukrainian part of historic Novorossiya
Novorossiya rus, Новороссия, Novorossiya, p=nəvɐˈrosʲːɪjə, a=Ru-Новороссия.ogg; , ; ; ; "New Russia". is a historical name, used during the era of the Russian Empire for an administrative area that would later becom ...
(''New Russia'') in the south of Ukraine and in the Crimea, a region in which in some areas Russians are the largest ethnic group. As ethnic Russians constitute a significant part of the population in these largely Russophone
This article details the geographical distribution of Russian-speakers. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the status of the Russian language often became a matter of controversy. Some Post-Soviet states adopted policies of Derus ...
parts of southern Ukraine (and a majority in the Crimea), these territories maintain particularly strong historic ties with Russia on the human level. Thus, a stronger than elsewhere in the country pro-Russian political sentiment makes the area a more fertile ground for the radical pro-Russian movements that are not as common elsewhere in the country.
As of December 2009 clashes between Ukrainian nationalists
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 Cossack uprising against the Poli ...
and pro-Russian organisations do sometimes take place.
Organizations
Among such movements are the youth organizations, the Proryv (literally the ''Breakthrough'') and the Eurasian Youth Movement (ESM).Mykyta Kasianenko,Without provocateurs and Russophobes Crimea seeking solutions to Ukrainian-Russian problems
, ''
Den
Den may refer to:
* Den (room), a small room in a house
* Maternity den, a lair where an animal gives birth
Media and entertainment
* ''Den'' (album), 2012, by Kreidler
* Den (''Battle Angel Alita''), a character in the ''Battle Angel Alita'' ...
'', 13 August 2007 Both movements' registration and legal status have been challenged in courts; and the leader of Proryv, a Russian citizen, was expelled from Ukraine, declared ''persona non grata
In diplomacy, a ' (PNG) is a foreign diplomat that is asked by the host country to be recalled to their home country. If the person is not recalled as requested, the host state may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the diplo ...
'' and barred from entering the country again. Alexander Dugin
Aleksandr Gelyevich Dugin (; born 7 January 1962) is a Russian far-right political philosopher. He is the leading theorist of Russian neo-Eurasianism.
Born into a military intelligence family, Dugin was an anti-communist dissident during the ...
, the Moscow-based leader of the ESM and his associate Pavel Zariffulin have also been barred from travelling to Ukraine because of their involvement in the activities of these organizations, although bans have been later lifted and reinstated again.
These movements openly state their mission as the disintegration of Ukraine and restoration of Russia within the borders of the former Russian EmpireРадикальные русские маргиналы хотят разделить Украину по Сталину''
Ukrayinska Pravda
''Ukrainska Pravda'' is a Ukrainian socio-political online media outlet founded by Heorhii Gongadze in April 2000. After Gongadze’s death in September 2000, the editorial team was led by co-founder Olena Prytula, who remained the editor-in ...
'', July 18, 2006 and, reportedly, have received regular encouragement and monetary support from Russia's politically connected businessmen.Андреас УмландФашистский друг Витренко
''
Ukrainska Pravda
''Ukrainska Pravda'' is a Ukrainian socio-political online media outlet founded by Heorhii Gongadze in April 2000. After Gongadze’s death in September 2000, the editorial team was led by co-founder Olena Prytula, who remained the editor-in ...
'' 26.09.2006 These organizations have been known not only for their pro-Russian activities, but have been also accused of organising massive acts of protest.2007 РБК-УкраїнПри штурмі СБУ в Києві арештовано 10 активістів ЄСМ
14.06.2006
Some observers point out the Russian government and the Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
's support of these movements and parties in Ukraine, especially in Crimea.The Sunday TimeOnce more into the valley of death?
October 24, 2004 The publications and protest actions of these organizations feature strongly pro-Russian and radically anti-NATO messages, invoking the rhetoric of "Ukrainian-Russian historic unity", "NATO criminality", and other similar claims. Some observers link the resurgence of radical Russian organizations in Ukraine with
Kremlin
The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...
's fear that the Orange Revolution
The Orange Revolution () was a series of protests that led to political upheaval in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005. It gained momentum primarily due to the initiative of the general population, sparked by the aftermath of the ...
in Ukraine could be exported to Russia, and addressing that possibility has been at the forefront of these movements' activities.Andriy Okara, "New Ukrainian Oprichnina
The oprichnina (, ; ) was a state policy implemented by Tsar Ivan the Terrible in Russia between 1565 and 1572. The policy included mass repression of the boyars (Russian aristocrats), including public executions and confiscation of their land ...
, or what is in common "PORA
Pora! (), meaning ''"It's time!"'' in Ukrainian, is a civic youth organization (Black Pora!) and political party in Ukraine ( Yellow Pora!) espousing nonviolent resistance and advocating increased national democracy. The group was established ...
", neoeuro-Asians, Ivan the Terrible and Yulia Tymoshenko", ''Zerkalo Nedeli
''Dzerkalo Tyzhnia'' (, ), usually referred to in English as the ''Mirror of the week'', is a Ukrainian online newspaper; it was one of Ukraine's most influential analytical weekly-publisher newspapers, founded in 1994.In Russian
in Ukrainian
.
''
*
Russian community in Ukraine
Russian movement in Ukraine
Russian Donbas
VasinList.com
– Russian Community and Classifieds in Kyiv, Odesa & Lviv {{DEFAULTSORT:Russians In Ukraine Russians in Ukraine, Ethnic groups in Ukraine Russian diaspora by country, Ukraine Russia–Ukraine relations
in Ukrainian
.
"Russian marches"
As a branch of a similar Russian organization theEurasian Youth Union
The Eurasian Youth Union (ESM; ; ''Yevraziyskiy soyuz molodozhi'', ''YeSM'') is a Russian Eurasianism, Eurasianist political organization, the youth wing of the Eurasia Party headed by Aleksandr Dugin. The organization has branches in several co ...
(ESM) has been organizing annual Russian Marches. The November 2006 "Russian march" in Kyiv, the capital, gathered 40 participants, but after the participants attacked the riot police, it was forced to interfere and several participants from were arrested."Вместе с бабой – семь человек"::Киевская милиция пообщалась с участниками "Русского марша"''
Kommersant
(, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia certified July 2013 circulation of the daily ...
-Ukraine'', November 6, 2006
In Odesa
Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...
and Crimean cities the November 2006 "Russian marches" drew more participants, with 150–200 participants in Odesa, and 500 in Simferopol
Simferopol ( ), also known as Aqmescit, is the second-largest city on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, but controlled by Russia. It is considered the cap ...
and went more peacefully. The marchers were calling for the Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
unity as well as the national unity between Russia and Ukraine. In Odesa the march of about 200 people carried anti-Western, pro-Russian slogans and religious symbols.
Public opinion
In March 2022, shortly after the start of theRussian 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 ...
, a poll found that 82% of ethnic Russians living in Ukraine said they did not believe that any part of Ukraine was rightfully part of Russia. The poll did not involve respondents from Crimea or the separatist-controlled part of Donbas. 65% of Ukrainians—including 88% of those of Russian ethnicity—agreed that "despite our differences there is more that unites ethnic Russians living in Ukraine and Ukrainians than divides us".
Notable Ukrainians of full or partial Russian ancestry
Actors
*Boryslav Brondukov
Boryslav Mykolayovych Brondukov (; ; 1 March 1938 – 10 March 2004) was a Ukrainian film character actor, People's Artist of Ukraine.
(of mixed Polish-Russian ancestry)
* Yuri Sergeevich Lavrov
Yuri Sergeevich Lavrov (; March 14, 1905 – August 20, 1980) was a well-known USSR, Soviet Russian film and theatre actor designated People's Artist of the USSR and People's Artist of Ukraine (1948).
Biography
Childhood in St. Petersburg
...
* Nikolay Olyalin
Nikolay Vladimiriovich Olyalin (; 22 May 1941 — 17 November 2009) was a Soviet- Ukrainian actor of Russian ethnicity.
Biography
Early life
As a child, Olyalin took drama classes at school. In 1959, when his father sent him to a military acade ...
Architects
*Andrey Kvasov
Andrey Vasilievich Kvasov (, – ) was a Russian Baroque architect who worked in Russia, including the territory of modern-day Ukraine. Very little is known about his life, and its dates are still uncertain. Only a handful of his buildings, tho ...
Artists and sculptors
* Evgeniy Chuikov *Victor Palmov
Victor Nikandrovich Palmov (; 10 October 1888 – 7 June 1929) was a Russian and Ukrainian painter and avant-garde artist (Futurist and Neo-primitivist) from the David Burliuk circle.
Life
Victor Palmov was born on 10 October 1888 in Samara, i ...
Businesspeople
* Vadim Novinsky - Billionaire, also of Armenian descentEngineers
* Oleg Antonov,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 ...
aircraft
An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...
designer and painter, the founder of Antonov ASTC.
* Pyotr Gorlov
Pyotr Nikolayevich Gorlov (; 11 May 1839 in Irkutsk, Irkutsk Governorate, Russian Empire – 20 November 1915) was a Russian geologist and engineer who explored coal deposits in the Donets Basin, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Ussuri Krai. The cit ...
, geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...
and engineer who explored many of the mines in the Donbas
The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...
region of 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 ...
. He founded the city of Horlivka
Horlivka ( ; , ), also known as Gorlovka (, ), is a city in Donetsk Oblast of Ukraine. Its population is
Economic activity is predominantly coal mining and the chemical industry. The Horlivka Institute for Foreign Languages has a two-building ...
.
* Vasiliy Karazin, intellectual, inventor, and scientific publisher in Imperial Russia
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imperial, Nebraska
* Imperial, Pennsylvania
* ...
. He is the founder of Kharkiv University
The V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (), also known as Kharkiv National University or Karazin University, is a public university in Kharkiv, Ukraine. It was founded in 1804 through the efforts of Vasily Karazin, becoming the second old ...
, which now bears his name, also of distant Serbian origin.
* Sergei Alekseyevich Lebedev
Sergey Alekseyevich Lebedev (; 2 November, 1902 – 3 July, 1974) was a Soviet scientist in the fields of electrical engineering and computer science, and designer of the first Soviet computers.
Biography
Lebedev was born in Nizhny Novgorod, ...
, scientist in the fields of electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
and computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
, and designer of the first Soviet computers.
* Alexander Alexandrovich Morozov
Aleksander Aleksandrovich Morozov (; ; born 29 October 1904 – 14 June 1979) was a Soviet designer of tanks, general, major-engineer (1945), and doctor of technical sciences (1972), twice Hero of the Socialist Labour (1942, 1974).
Morozov t ...
, engineer and tank designer.
* Anatoly Dyatlov
Anatoly Stepanovich Dyatlov (; 3 March 1931 – 13 December 1995) was a Soviet engineer who was the deputy chief engineer for the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. He supervised the safety test which resulted in the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, for wh ...
, Soviet engineer who was the deputy chief engineer for the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP) is a nuclear power plant undergoing decommissioning. ChNPP is located near the abandoned city of Pripyat in northern Ukraine, northwest of the city of Chernobyl, from the Belarus–Ukraine border, a ...
* Leonid Toptunov
Leonid Fedorovych Toptunov (, ; 16 August 1960 – 14 May 1986) was a Soviet nuclear engineer who was the senior reactor control chief engineer at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Reactor Unit 4 on the night of the Chernobyl disaster, 26 April ...
, Soviet electrical engineer who was the senior reactor control chief engineer at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Reactor Unit 4 on the night of the Chernobyl disaster, 26 April 1986
* Aleksandr Akimov
Aleksandr Fyodorovich Akimov (; 6 May 1953 – 10 May 1986) was a Soviet engineer who was the supervisor of the shift that worked at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Reactor Unit 4 on the night of the Chernobyl disaster, 26 April 1986.
Biogr ...
, Soviet engineer who was the supervisor of the shift that worked at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Reactor Unit 4 on the night of the Chernobyl disaster, 26 April 1986
* Nikolai Fomin, chief engineer of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant from 1981 until the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986
* Viktor Bryukhanov
Viktor Petrovich Bryukhanov (, ; 1 December 1935 – 13 October 2021) was the manager of construction of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and the director of the plant from 1970 to 1986.
Biography
Bryukhanov was born on 1 December 1935 in t ...
, manager of construction of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and the director of the plant from 1970 to 1986
Literature
* Fyodor Berezin, Russian-language science fiction writer and Deputy Minister of Defence of theDonetsk People's Republic
The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR; , ) is Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, occupied territory in Ukraine that the Russian Federation has claimed to annex and declared as a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia, comprising parts o ...
.
* Mikhail Bulgakov
Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( ; rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright. His novel ''The M ...
* Pavlo Kazarin
Pavlo Volodymyrovych Kazarin (; born 3 December 1983) is a Ukrainian bilingual journalist, publicist, and philologist-literary critic.
Biography
His father — Volodymyr Kazarin (born 1952), is a teacher of Russian literature, who moved with ...
, bilingual journalist and publicist
* Andrey Kurkov
Andrii Yuriyovych Kurkov (, ; born 23 April 1961) is a Ukrainian author and public intellectual who writes in Russian and Ukrainian. He is the author of 19 novels, including the bestselling '' Death and the Penguin'', nine books for children, a ...
* Yevgeni Petrov
* Vladislav Adolfovitch Rusanov, Russian-language science fiction writer and chairman of the Donetsk People's Republic
The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR; , ) is Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, occupied territory in Ukraine that the Russian Federation has claimed to annex and declared as a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia, comprising parts o ...
Writer's Union.
* Vladislav Rusanov
Military
* Oleksander Hrekov
Oleksander Petrovych Hrekov (; 4 December 1875 – 2 December 1958) was a general of the Imperial Russian Army and Ukrainian People's Army. He was a commander-in-chief of the army of the West Ukrainian National Republic during the Polish-Ukrai ...
, Commander-in-chief of the army of the West Ukrainian National Republic
The West Ukrainian People's Republic (; see other names) was a short-lived state that controlled most of Eastern Galicia from November 1918 to July 1919. It included major cities of Lviv, Ternopil, Kolomyia, Drohobych, Boryslav, Stanyslav ...
during the Polish-Ukrainian War and architect of the Chortkiv offensive
The Chortkiv offensive ( Ukrainian: ''Чортківська офензива, Чортків,'' Polish: ''Ofensywa czortkowska, Czortków;'' 7–28 June 1919) also known as the June offensive, was one of the most successful counteroffensive m ...
in which the Ukrainian Galician Army
The Ukrainian Galician Army ( UGA; ), was the combined military of the West Ukrainian People's Republic during and after the Polish-Ukrainian War. It was called the "Galician army" initially. Dissatisfied with the alliance of Ukraine and Polan ...
advanced 120 km against the Polish army.
* Ivan Konev
Ivan Stepanovich Konev ( rus, Ива́н Степа́нович Ко́нев, p=ɪˈvan sʲtʲɪˈpanəvʲɪtɕ ˈkonʲɪf, links=no; 28 December 1897 – 21 May 1973) was a Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet Union who led Red Army forc ...
, 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 ...
military commander, who led 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 ...
forces on the Eastern Front during 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 ...
, liberated much of Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
from occupation by the Axis Powers
The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...
, and helped in the capture of Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
's capital, Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
.
* Kliment Voroshilov
Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov ( ; ), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (; 4 February 1881 – 2 December 1969), was a prominent Soviet Military of the Soviet Union, military officer and politician during the Stalinism, Stalin era (1924–195 ...
, 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 ...
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
commander and Politics of the Soviet Union, politician of mixed Ukrainians, Ukrainian and Russians, Russian ethnicity.
* Vasily Zaitsev (sniper), Vasily Zaitsev, Soviet sniper during World War II
* Ihor Lapin, commander of the Special Forces Battalion of the First Separate Special Forces Brigade, named after Ivan Bohun
* Mykhailo Bolotskykh, military serviceman, Colonel General (Civil Defense Service)
* Eduard Moskaliov, major general of the Ukrainian Ground Forces
* Oleksandr Syrskyi, Soviet and Ukrainian military commander
Music
* Vitas, singer * Leff Pouishnoff, pianist * Sergei Prokofiev, composer * Vadim Pruzhanov, keyboardist * Hanna Syedokova, singer * Dasha Astafieva, model, singer, and actress * Artem Pyvovarov, new wave singer and composer * Ivan Dorn, singerPoliticians
* Mykola Azarov, former prime minister and finance minister ofUkraine
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 ...
of mixed Russians, Russian (by mother) and Estonians, Estonian (by father) ethnicity.
* Raisa Bogatyrova, Secretary of National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, and a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukrainian parliament.
* Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (and thus political leader of the Soviet Union, USSR) from 1964 to 1982.
* Lyudmyla Denisova
Liudmyla Leontiivna Denisova (born 6 July 1960) is a Ukrainian politician. After twice serving as Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine, Denisova worked as Ombudsman for Human Rights in Ukraine from March 2018 to May 2022. Ukrayinska Pravd ...
, current minister of labor and social policy of Ukraine.
* Dmytro Razumkov, former chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (from August 2019 to 7 October 2021)
* Oleksandr Turchynov
Oleksandr Valentynovych Turchynov (, ; born 31 March 1964) is a Ukrainians, Ukrainian politician, screenwriter, Baptists in Ukraine, Baptist minister and economist. He is the former Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukra ...
, politician, screenwriter, Baptist minister and economist
* Oleg Tsaryov, former people's deputy of Ukraine elected for the Party of Regions in 2002, who was expelled from the party on 7 April 2014
* Oleksandr Sukhov, People's Deputy of Ukraine from Ukraine's 107th electoral district since 29 August 2019
* Ivan Herasymov, the oldest member of the Verkhovna Rada until his death.
* Nikita Khrushchev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, following the death of Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
, and Premier of the Soviet Union, Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Soviet Union), Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964.
* Pavlo Klimkin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (2014-2019)
* Dmytro Lunin, businessman and statesman, who served as the acting governor of Poltava Oblast 24 December 2021 to 10 October 2023
* Yevhen Kushnaryov, former mayor of Kharkov, Governor of the Kharkov Oblast, Chief of Staff to the President of Ukraine, and Deputy to the Verkhovna Rada.
* Oleksandr Novikov, law enforcement officer, former Head of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) from 2020 to 2024, former prosecutor since 2004, including at the Office of the Prosecutor General from 2012 to 2020
* Anatoly Lunacharsky
* Volodymyr Puzakov
* Fyodor Sergeyev, head of the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic
* Mikhail Artemyevich Muravyov, Army Commander of the Odessa Soviet Republic
The Odessa Soviet Republic (OSR; ; ) was a short-lived Republics of the Soviet Union, Soviet republic formed on from parts of the Kherson Governorate, Kherson and Bessarabia Governorates of the former Russian Empire.
Brief description
The r ...
* Innokentiy Kozhevnikov, People's Commissariat for Posts and Telegraphs of the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic
* Andrei Zhdanov
* Volodymyr Horbulin, Secretary of National Security and Defense Council (1994–1999, 2006)
* Andrei Ivanov (Bolshevik), Andrei Ivanov, member of the Presidium and the secretary of the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee and a delegate of the XII and XIII Party Congresses
* Yevhen Kushnaryov, a chief ideologue of the 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 a key ally of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych
* Oleh Shapovalov, member of the Party of Regions, who served as President of the Kharkiv Oblast Council from 2005 to 2006
* Hennadiy Balashov, leader of 5.10 political party
* Volodymyr Petrov, candidate for the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election
* Valeriy Baranov, People's Deputy of Ukraine (2007–2012)
* Ihor Markov, founder and chairman of the Rodina Party and is a former deputy of Ukrainian parliament as a member of the Party of Regions faction
* Serhiy Lyovochkin, formerly a member of the Parliament of Ukraine
* Yuliya Lyovochkina, People's Deputy, served in the Verkhovna Rada from 2007 to 2022
* Serhiy Teryokhin, Minister of Economy of Ukraine from 4 February to 27 September 2005, Batkivshchyna Party member
* Vyacheslav Ovechkin, 1st Deputy Head of the Odesa Regional State Administration
* Andriy Klyuyev, 2nd Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine
* Serhiy Sobolev, member of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) and acting Batkivshchyna faction leader
* Yevheniy Murayev, leader of the now-banned political party Nashi
* Vladimir Maltsev, People's Deputy of Ukraine, member of the Party of Regions (since November 2007), a member of the Committee on Justice (December 2007)
* Volodymyr Malyshev, colonel-general of militia of Ukraine, People's deputy of Ukraine of the V-th, VI-th, VII-th convocations (2006-2014), Doctor of Law (2013), Honored Lawyer of Ukraine (1997)
* Ihor Yeremeyev, People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 4th, 7th and 8th convocation (non-partisan, Chairman of the Deputy Group "People's Will")
* Serhiy Klyuyev, businessman and a former member of the Ukrainian Parliament
* Ivan Fedorov (politician), Ivan Fedorov, politician who was appointed Governor of Zaporizhzhia Oblast in February 2024
* Viktor Tikhonov (politician), Viktor Tikhonov, ambassador to Belarus from 2011 to 2012
* Mariya Ionova, politician of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc
European Solidarity (, ; , YeS) is a political party in Ukraine. It has its roots in a parliamentary group called Solidarity dating from 2000 and has existed since in various forms as a political outlet for Petro Poroshenko. The party with its the ...
* Spiridon Kilinkarov, pro-Russian politician who served as a People's Deputy of Ukraine from the Communist Party of Ukraine from 2006 to 2014
* Oleksandr Mochkov, People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 7th Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada
* Ihor Prasolov, Minister of Economical Development and Trade of Ukraine from 24 December 2012 to 27 February 2014
* Glib Prygunov, and former chairman of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in simultaneously southern, eastern and central Ukraine, the most important industrial region of the country. It was created on February 27, 1932. Dnipropetro ...
Council
* Volodymyr Polochaninov, former people's deputy
* Oleksandr Ponomaryov (politician), Oleksandr Ponomaryov, People's Deputy of Ukraine since 12 December 2012 from Ukraine's 78th electoral district, representing south-eastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast
* Ihor Rainin, former governor of Kharkiv Oblast
* Oleksiy Danilov, politician who was the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine from 2019 to 2024
* Volodymyr Hrynyov, People's Deputy of Ukraine (1990-1994)
* Anton Polyakov, member of the party Servant of the People (until December 2019), he served in the Verkhovna Rada from 2019 to 2021
* Oleh Dyomin, Ambassador of Ukraine to China (2013–2019)
* Andriy Kozhemiakin, politician and a former security service officer
* Kseniya Lyapina, Deputy chairman of the party "For Ukraine!", and head of the Kyiv regional organization (since 2009)
* Vitaliy Shubin, Minister of Energy and Environmental Protection (10 March 2020 – 16 April 2020)
* Serhiy Kunitsyn, member of the Ukrainian parliament as an independent politician for Petro Poroshenko Bloc
European Solidarity (, ; , YeS) is a political party in Ukraine. It has its roots in a parliamentary group called Solidarity dating from 2000 and has existed since in various forms as a political outlet for Petro Poroshenko. The party with its the ...
* Nina Yuzhanina, People's Deputy of Ukraine since the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election
* Serhiy Kaplin, People's Deputy of Ukraine of the VIIth (candidate from UDAR) and VIIIth (candidate from Petro Poroshenko Bloc) convocations, and the leader of the Social Democratic Party
* Ihor Terekhov, mayor of Kharkiv
Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.
since 11 November 2021
* Oleksiy Azarov, First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance and Banking, People's Deputy of Ukraine, and a member of the Party of Regions faction in the Verkhovna Rada of the VII convocation
* Serhii Kivalov, politician and jurist who served as the head of Central Election Commission during the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election which led to the Orange Revolution
* Iryna Venediktova, Prosecutor General of Ukraine (17 March 2020 – 19 July 2022)
* Iryna Suslova, People's Deputy of Ukraine (27 November 2014 – 29 August 2019)
* Oleksandr Yefremov, former parliamentarian and politician
* Borys Filatov, current mayor of Dnipro
Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...
* Oleksandr Volkov (politician), Oleksandr Volkov, People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 3rd, 4th and 7th convocations
* Oleh Tatarov, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine
* Oleh Tarasov, People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 9th convocation
* Maksym Stepanov, Minister of Healthcare (30 March 2020 – 18 May 2021)
* Serhii Shakhov, People's Deputy of Ukraine of since 2016
* Andriy Smyrnov, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine from September 2019 until March 2024
* Oleh Nemchinov, 20th Secretary of the Cabinet of Ministers
* Andrii Viktorovych Simonov, mayor of Pyriatyn (since October 25, 2020)
* Andrii Gordieiev, politician, people's deputy of Ukraine of the VIIIth convocation
* Vadym Merikov, former People's Deputy of Ukraine and served as the governor of the Mykolaiv Oblast from July 28, 2014 to June 29, 2016
* Pavlo Lebedyev, Minister of Defense of Ukraine from 2012 to 2014
* Hennadiy Vasilyev, People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th and 7th convocations
* Yurii Shapovalov, People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 7th, 8th and 9th convocations
* Kostyantyn Morozov, first Minister of Defence of Ukraine following its 1991 declaration of independence
* Valeriy Shmarov, the third Minister of Defence of Ukraine (1994-1996)
* Igor Alekseyev (politician), Igor Alekseyev, Member of the Verkhovna Rada (March 31, 2002 – October 26, 2014)
* Dmytro Salamatin, Minister of Defense of Ukraine from 8 February 2012 to 24 December 2012
* Pavlo Kuznietsov, Member of the Verkhovna Rada (12 May 1998 – 14 May 2002)
* Oleksandr Kubrakov, Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine (2021-2024)
* Vitaliy Danilov, former member of Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada)
* Vitaliy Chuhunnikov, Governor of Rivne Oblast
Rivne Oblast (), also referred to as Rivnenshchyna (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast in western Ukraine. Its administrative center is Rivne. The surface area of the region is . Its population is:
Before its annexation by the ...
(2014–2016)
* Heorhiy Kryuchkov, member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and later 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 ...
, he served in the Verkhovna Rada from 1998 to 2006
* Mykhailo Chechetov, former first deputy head of the 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 ...
parliamentary faction; and de facto its Chief Whip
* Andrii Kholodov, businessman and politician and former People's Deputy of Ukraine (in the 9th Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada)
* Oleksiy Kostusyev, former mayor of Odesa
Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...
* Svitlana Shatalova, political figure and who was the deputy governor of Odesa Oblast
Odesa Oblast (), also referred to as Odeshchyna (Одещина), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern coast of the Black Sea. Its administrative centre is the city of Ode ...
* Vyacheslav Boguslayev, member of the 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 ...
* Gennadiy Trukhanov, mayor of Odesa
Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...
* Pavlo Frolov, member of the Ukrainian Parliament of the 9th convocation from the Servant of the People party
* Yuriy Zbitnyev, candidate in the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, nominated by the "New Power" Party
* Vitold Fokin, served as the first Prime Minister of Ukraine from the country's independence on 24 August 1991 to 1 October 1992
* Oleksandr Prokudin, Head of the Department of the National Police of Ukraine from February 2022 to February 2023
* Serhiy Arbuzov, former banker and politician who briefly served as acting prime minister of Ukraine from 28 January to 22 February 2014
* Alexander Rutskoy, Russian politician and former Soviet military officer who served as the only vice president of Russia from 1991 to 1993
* Vladyslav Bukhariev, politician and intelligence officer who served as head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine from June to September 2019
* Serhii Bunin, politician currently serving as a People's Deputy of Ukraine from Ukraine's 98th electoral district in Kyiv Oblast
* Andrey Kurbsky, political opponent of the Russian tsar Ivan the Terrible (1533–1584)
* Vasiliy Averin, Bolshevik revolutionary, a leading member of the Cheka and a member of the Soviet government in Ukraine
* Vasiliy Mantsev, Chairman of the Ukraine Cheka
* Aleksandr Uspensky, People's Commissar for Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR
* Ivan Serov, People's Commissar for Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR
* Aleksei Brovkin, Minister of Interior of UkrSSR
* Yuriy Smirnov (minister), Yuriy Smirnov, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in 2001–2003
* Raisa Bohatyriova, politician and former Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Health
* Oleksander Shulhyn, diplomat who played a key role in establishing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (1917-1918)
* Georgiy Afanasyev, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Ukrainian State (1918)
* Aleksandr Kharitonov (politician), Aleksandr Kharitonov, Former People's Deputy of Ukraine
* Mykhailo Papiyev, former Minister of Labour and Social Policy, serving from 2002 to 2005 and from 2006 to 2007.
* Ivan Lyakhov (politician), Ivan Lyakhov, Member of the Verkhovna Rada (1990–1994)
* Mykola Popov, Member of the Verkhovna Rada from 1990 to 1994
* Serhiy Yefremov, the deputy head of the Central Council of Ukraine (1917)
* Iryna Akimova, politician and former First Deputy Head of Presidential Administration of Ukraine
* Hanna Antonieva, People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 3rd and 4th convocationsconvocations
* Volodymyr Ariev, Member of Parliament of Ukraine since 2007, chairman of Ukrainian delegation in Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in 2015–2019, PACE Vice-President (2015, 2018), President of PACE Committee for Culture, Education, Science and Media (2016–2017)
* Stanislav Arzhevitin, Chairman of the Association of Ukrainian Banks, and People's Deputy of Verkhovna Rada
* Aleksey Baburin, People's Deputy of Ukraine, and member of the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Verkhovna Radas, member of the Communist Party of Ukraine
* Anatolii Brezvin, Member of the Kyiv City Council (1998–2014)
* Nina Karpachova, Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights from 1998 until 2012
* Borys Kolesnikov, leader of the political party Ukraine is Our Home
* Vitaliy Kononov, environmental activist who served as a People's Deputy of Ukraine from the Party of Greens of Ukraine from 1998 to 2002, heading the party's electoral list
* Vyacheslav Boguslayev, engineer, businessman, and politician, former member of the Party of Regions, People's Deputy of Ukraine from 2006 to 2019
* Pavlo Burlakov, Member of the Liberal Party of Ukraine (1995–2005)
* Ivan Gerasymov, former deputy in the Verkhovna Rada, was a member of the Communist Party of Ukraine
* Yurii Karmazin, politician and judge, served four terms as a People's Deputy of Ukraine
* Leonid Klimov, member of the Party of Regions in Verkhovna Rada (from November 2007) and a member of the Committee on National Security and Defense (from December 2007)
* Serhiy Larin, member of the Ukrainian parliament since 1998 for the People's Democratic Party, For United Ukraine! (2002), Party of Regions (2006, 2007), Opposition Bloc (2014), and Opposition Platform — For Life (2019)
* Mykhailo Pozhyvanov, politician who served as the Deputy Minister of Economy from 2008 to 2010
* Andriy Portnov, Member of Parliament (25 May 2006 – 16 April 2010)
* Viktor Topolov, 6th Minister of Coal Industry of Ukraine (18 August 2005 – 4 August 2006)
* Yuriy Chertkov, people's deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine V (2006–2007), VI (2007–2012), and VII (2012–2014) convocations, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (since 12.2007)
* Oleksandr Tretiakov, People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th convocations
* Maksym Polyakov, politician, economist and public figure, served on Uman City Council as Deputy Mayor for Economic Activities from 2011 to 2012
* Artur Herasymov, the leader of the then-Petro Poroshenko Bloc parliamentary faction from 2017 to 2019
* Olga Bielkova, former Member of the Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) from 2012 until June 2020
* Olha Chervakova, People's Deputy of Ukraine in the eighth convocation
* Yehor Soboliev, elected to the Verkhovna Rada in the October 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election, appearing 13th on the party list of Self Reliance
* Tetiana Ostrikova, member of parliament of Ukraine of the 8th convocation, Member of the parliamentary faction Samopomich Union
* Anna Romanova, former Member of the Ukrainian Parliament, member of the parliamentary faction Samopomich Union, former deputy mayor of Chernihiv
* Oleksiy Ryabchyn, People's Deputy of Ukraine (27 November 2014 – 24 July 2019), Deputy Minister for Energy and Environmental Protection of Ukraine (12 October 2019 – 27 May 2020)
* Ihor Zhdanov, politician who served as the Minister of Youth and Sports in both the Yatsenyuk Government and in the Groysman Government
* Tetiana Rychkova, People's Deputy of Ukraine from Ukraine's 27th electoral district from 2016 to 2019
* Oleh Kryshyn, People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 8th convocation
* Maxim Efimov, former People's Deputy of Ukraine from Ukraine's 48th electoral district from 2014 to December 2023
* Volodymyr Areshonkov, People's Deputy of Ukraine and Honored Worker of Education of Ukraine (2017)
* Anastasiya Radina, politician who is a who is currently a member of the Verkhovna Rada since 29 August 2019 from the Servant of the People party
* Yehor Cherniev, People's Deputy of Ukraine from the Servant of the People party in the Verkhovna Rada, number 26 on the party's list
* Maryna Bardina, People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 9th convocation
*Yulia Ovchynnykova, People's Deputy of Ukraine from the "Servant of the People" party
* Denys Maslov, judge, lawyer, politician and Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy (since July 2022)
* Oleh Voloshyn, political pundit on 112 Ukraine, politician, and former government official under Ukrainian prime ministers Mykola Azarov and Viktor Yanukovych
* Tetiana Plachkova, People's Deputy elected to the Verkhovna Rada in 2019
* Kostyantyn Bondaryev, People's Deputy of Verkhovna Rada.
* Oleksandra Ustinova, public activist serving as a People's Deputy of Ukraine from the proportional list of the Holos party since 2019
* Serhiy Rakhmanin, journalist and politician currently serving as a People's Deputy of Ukraine on the proportional list of the Holos party since 2019
* Andriy Sharaskin, People's Deputy of Ukraine from the proportional list of the Holos party since 2020
* Iryna Borzova, People's Deputy of Ukraine of the IX convocation
* Viacheslav Rublyov, People's Deputy of Ukraine from Ukraine's 20th electoral district since 29 August 2019 as a member of Servant of the People
* Andriy Aksyonov, member of the Verkhovna Rada, the national parliament of Ukraine
* Oleksandr Kovalov, People's Deputy of Ukraine from Ukraine's 51st electoral district since 29 August 2019
* Serhiy Kuzminykh, People's Deputy of Ukraine from Ukraine's 67th electoral district since 29 August 2019
* Maryna Nikitina, People's Deputy of Ukraine representing Ukraine's 82nd electoral district as a member of Servant of the People since 2019
* Oleksiy Kuznyetsov, politician and businessman, who is currently a member of the Verkhovna Rada of the 9th convocation
* Oleksandr Lukashev, People's Deputy of Ukraine from Ukraine's 113th electoral district since 29 August 2019
* Ihor Kopytin, People's Deputy of Ukraine representing Ukraine's 129th electoral district as a member of Servant of the People since 2019
* Artem Chornomorov, People's Deputy of Ukraine representing Ukraine's 131st electoral district as a member of Servant of the People since 2019
* Maksym Dyrdin, People's Deputy of Ukraine representing Ukraine's 132nd electoral district, as a member of Servant of the People since 2019
* Oleh Koliev, People's Deputy of Ukraine representing Ukraine's 134th electoral district from Servant of the People since 2019
* Oleksiy Leonov, People's Deputy of Ukraine representing Ukraine's 162nd electoral district from Servant of the People since 29 August 2019
* Serhiy Koleboshyn, People's Deputy of Ukraine, representing Ukraine's 140th electoral district as a member of Servant of the People since 29 August 2019
* Dmytro Nalotov, People's Deputy of Ukraine representing Ukraine's 144th electoral district from Servant of the People since 2019
* Maksym Berezin, People's Deputy of Ukraine from Ukraine's 151st electoral district in northern Poltava Oblast since 2019
* Roman Ivanisov, politician and convicted child rapist currently serving as a People's Deputy of Ukraine from Ukraine's 153rd electoral district since 29 August 2019, at first as a member of Servant of the People and currently as an independent since 2019
* Ihor Serhiyovych Vasylyev, politician, in 2019 elected for the Servant of the People in the 9th Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada
* Maria Mezentseva, politician, was elected to Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, in 2019
* Oleksandr Bakumov, Ukrainian soldier, professor, and politician currently serving as a People's Deputy of Ukraine from Ukraine's 173rd electoral district since 29 August 2019
* Yevhen Pyvovarov, professor and politician currently serving as a People's Deputy of Ukraine from Ukraine's 175th electoral district since 29 August 2019
* Oleksiy Krasov, People's Deputy of Ukraine from Ukraine's 180th electoral district since 29 August 2019
* Volodymyr Ivanov (politician, born 1982), Volodymyr Ivanov, People's Deputy of Ukraine from Ukraine's 185th electoral district since 29 August 2019
* Mykhailo Fedorov, politician and businessman, served as a Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Digital Transformation from 2019 to March 2023
* Ihor Kolykhaiev, former People's Deputy of Ukraine, elected in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election
* Sergey Kozlov (politician), military officer and politician
* Gennadiy Tsypkalov, political and military figure
* Aleksandr Bednov, former Soviet and Ukrainian militsiya officer
* Alexander Khodakovsky - politician
* Aleksey Mozgovoy - military commander
* Andriy Kostin, People's Deputy of Ukraine elected in 2019
Scientists
* Nikolai Amosov, heart surgery, surgeon and inventor. * Nikolay Bogolyubov, mathematician and theoretical physics, theoretical physicist known for his work in statistical field theory and dynamical systems * Nikolai Chebotaryov, mathematician. * Vladimir Filatov, ophthalmologist and surgery, surgeon best known for his development of tissue therapy. He introduced the tube flap grafting method, corneal transplantation and preservation of grafts from cadaver eyes. He founded The Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases & Tissue Therapy in Odessa. * Svyatoslav Fyodorov, ophthalmology, ophthalmologist, Eye surgery, eye microsurgeon, creator of radial keratotomy, professor, full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Russian Academy of Medical Sciences and politician. * George Gamow, physicist and cosmologist. * Victor Glushkov, founding father of information technology in the Soviet Union, and one of the founders of Cybernetics. * Nikolay Mitrofanovich Krylov, mathematician. * Yuri I. Manin, mathematician. * Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, microbiologist of Jewish, Moldovans, Moldovan, and Russian descent. * Nikolay Ivanovich Pirogov, scientist, physician, doctor, pedagogue, public figure, and corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1847). He is considered to be the founder of field surgery, and was one of the first surgeons in Europe to use ether as an anaesthetic. He was the first surgeon to use anaesthesia in a field operation (1847), invented various kinds of surgical operations, and developed his own technique of using orthopedic cast, plaster casts to treat fractured bones. * Aleksei Pogorelov, mathematician * Vladimir Porfiriev, geologist * Nikolai Pylchykov, physicist, inventor, andgeologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...
* Sergey Reformatsky, chemist
* Lev Shubnikov, experimental physicist
* Cyril Sinelnikov, nuclear physicist
* Yurii Dmitrievich Sokolov, mathematician
* Pyotr Valentinovich Trusov, physicist
* Valentyna Astakhova, historian, doctor of historical sciences (1981), professor (1983), academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Higher School of Ukraine (2004), advisor to the rector, former rector of Kharkiv Humanitarian University People's Ukrainian Academy
Sportspeople
* Oleg Blokhin, Ukraine, Ukrainian football (soccer), football Coach (sport), coach of mixed Ukrainians, Ukrainian (by mother) and Russians, Russian (by father) ethnicity who was formerly a Striker (association football), striker for the USSR national football team. He was named European Footballer of the Year in 1975. * Yelizaveta Bryzghina, Ukraine, Ukrainian sprint athlete. * Yana Klochkova, swimming (sport), swimmer, who has won five Olympic medals in her career, with four of them being gold. * Viktor Kolotov, FC Dynamo Kyiv and USSR national football team goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. UEFA Euro 1972 runner-up. * Mykyta Krylov, Nikita Krylov, UFC fighter. * Yevhen Rudakov, FC Dynamo Kyiv and USSR national football team goalkeeper. UEFA Euro 1972 runner-up. * Serhiy Kuznetsov (footballer, born 1982), Serhiy Kuznetsov, football coach * Serhiy Kuznetsov (footballer, born 1963), Serhiy Kuznetsov, former professional footballer who played as a defender * Oleg Oshenkov, head coach of the Ukraine national team at the Summer Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR * Denys Filimonov, former football forward * Vladimir Dobrikov, Master Sports of the USSR, Honored coach of the RSFSR. * Artem Favorov, football striker * Denys Favorov, football defender * Roman Monaryov, retired footballer and current manager * Oleksandr Ilyuschenkov, football goalkeeper who plays for Karpaty Lviv * Yehor Kartushov, football midfielder who plays for Karpaty Lviv * Denys Kozhanov, football midfielder who plays for Karpaty Lviv * Yuriy Ovcharov, football goalkeeper * Viktor Arefyev, football forward * Mykola Fominykh, chief of the Football Department of the Sports Committee of Ukrainian SSR * Oleksandr Kosyrin, former football forward * Oleksiy Antyukhin, professional footballer * Viktor Zhylin, football defender * Volodymyr Zhylin, retired Soviet football player * Oleksandr Deriberin, retired Soviet footballer * Adolf Poskotin, football player and coach * Ihor Nadein, Merited Coach of Ukraine * Valentin Tugarin, Soviet football manager * Yukhym Shkolnykov, football coach * Yuriy Hruznov, Soviet football goalkeeper * Oleksandr Shchanov, football defender, forward, and manager * Boris Streltsov, football forward * Oleksandr Ivanov, professional football coach and a former player * Oleksiy Ivanov, former football midfielder * Pavlo Parshyn, football forward * Yehor Ivanov, football striker who plays for FC Poltava in the Ukrainian First League * Artem Ivanov (draughts player), Artem Ivanov, player in the International draughts and draughts-64 * Artem Ivanov (weightlifter), Artem Ivanov, weightlifter * Vitaliy Sidorov (discus thrower), Vitaliy Sidorov, retired discus thrower, who represented Ukraine (1996) at the Summer Olympics * Andriy Lunin, professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Ukraine national team * Elina Svitolina, tennis player * Anhelina Kalinina, tennis player * Yuliia Starodubtseva, tennis player * Ekaterina Serebrianskaya, rhythmic gymnast, Olympic champion. * Andriy Nesmachnyi, Ukrainian football defender (soccer), defender. * Alexander Volkov (basketball), Alexander Volkov, one of the founders of BC Kiev, former basketball player. * Yuriy Voynov, FC Dynamo Kyiv and USSR national football team midfielder. UEFA Euro 1960 winner. * Andriy Voronin, Ukraine, Ukrainian striker of mixed Ukrainian Jews, Jewish and Russian ancestry. * Alexander Vyukhin, ice hockey goaltender who last played for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. He perished in the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster outside of Yaroslavl,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 ...
.
* Denys Sylantyev, retired swimmer
* Oleksandr Litvinov, professional footballer who plays as a right-back for FC Dinaz Vyshhorod
* Anna Zatonskih, chess player who holds the titles International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM)
* Ruslan Ponomariov, chess grandmaster
* Artur Frolov, chess International Master (1991)
* Vladimir Tukmakov, chess grandmaster
* Igor Novikov (chess player), chess grandmaster
* Anton Korobov, chess grandmaster
* Valeriy Neverov, chess grandmaster (1991) and four-time Ukrainian Chess Champion (1983, 1985, 1988, 1996)
* Andrei Volokitin, chess grandmaster
* Natalia Zhukova, chess grandmaster and two-time European women's champion
* Lidia Semenova, chess player, who holds the title of woman grandmaster
* Anna Ushenina, chess grandmaster who was Women's World Chess Champion from November 2012 to September 2013
* Sergey Karjakin, chess grandmaster
Other
* Vladlen Tatarsky - blogger * Valery Bolotov - militant * Alexey Stakhanov, legendary miner. * Yaroslav Trofimov, journalist * Volodymyr Zolkin, journalist * Victoria Roshchyna, journalist * Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, photojournalist, journalist, media and social activist, * Anastasia Baburova, assassinated journalist * Oleh Sentsov, filmmaker, writer and activist * Denis Ivanov (filmmaker), Denis Ivanov, producer, film distributor, cultural manager, TV presenter, head of the Arthouse Traffic film company, member of the European Film Academy and National Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine, founder of the Odesa International Film Festival and «Children Kinofest» – International Film Festival for children and teenagers (Ukraine) * Leonid Bykov, Soviet actor, film director, and script writer * Vitaly Zholobov, retired Soviet cosmonaut who flew on Soyuz 21 space flight as the flight engineerSee also
* List of Ukrainians of Russian ethnicity *Russian language in Ukraine
Russian language, Russian is the most common first language in the Donbas and Crimea regions of Ukraine and the city of Kharkiv, and the predominant language in large cities in the East Ukraine, eastern and South Ukraine, southern portions of ...
* Russification of Ukraine
* Chronology of Ukrainian language suppression
* Internationalism or Russification?
* Derussification in Ukraine
* Ukrainianization
* Demographics of Ukraine
* Demographic history of Crimea
* Russian Cultural Center in Lviv
* Anti-Russian sentiment#Ukraine, Anti-Russian sentiment in Ukraine
* Ukrainians in Russia
* Polish minority in Ukraine
References
External links
Russian community in Ukraine
Russian movement in Ukraine
Russian Donbas
VasinList.com
– Russian Community and Classifieds in Kyiv, Odesa & Lviv {{DEFAULTSORT:Russians In Ukraine Russians in Ukraine, Ethnic groups in Ukraine Russian diaspora by country, Ukraine Russia–Ukraine relations