Menu
Ireland's political and cultural magazine
76 March/April 2022
Fragile, vibrant, modern Ukraine faces
being overrun by 190,000 Russian troops,
driven by an autocrat frustrated at the loss
of Russia’s one-time sphere of influence
By Michael Smith
INTERNATIONAL
Ukraine
Ukraine may have been a backwater, romanticised
originally as the land of the Cossacks, until recently
though it is the second biggest country in Europe
(after Russia of course), but as of now it is a thriving
democracy with a free media and free speech, and
a vibrant economy, culture and social life.
Kyiv and Odessa
I visited Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, and Odessa, in
August 2021. Both are sophisticated, aordable,
modern cities with swanky bars full of beautiful
people drinking cocktails, artesan IPAs and local
champagne; lively parks swarming with
rollerskaters; and cinemas showing Hollywood
movies. Kyiv, where the average salary is €620 per
month, is an IT hub, dotted with high-rise apartments
under construction - their ubiquitous realtor-
branded photographic hoardings in English
showcase the cosmopolitan residents they seek to
attract. Odessa is the best-preserved Neo-Classical
city in the world with a ritzy beach resort. Odessa
has the most stylish restaurants East of Paris. We
stayed in the Londonskaya Hotel, a Renaissance
style palace built by a French confectioner in 1828
near the steps that feature in Sergei Eisenstein’s
revered 1925 movie Battleship Potemkin. He stayed
there too.
All changed in 2014
Ukraine hit the spot after its 2014 ‘Revolution of
Dignity’ when protesters at Maidan square in Kyiv
ousted the democratically elected president Viktor
Yanukovych a thuggish Russian-backed mafioso. By
then he had purloined around $100bn, equal to more
than half the annual economic output of Ukraine.
Leaned on by Putin, in 2013 Yanukovych had
abandoned Ukraine’s Association Agreement with
the EU and moved to join its Russian-led rival.
Yanukovych ordered police to shoot protesters
who opposed him. When the crowds swelled,
Yanukovych fled to Russia where he remains, poised,
allegedly hauling $32 billion dollars in cash across
the border in trucks as his power crumbled.
History: shared heritage
The shared heritage of Russia and Ukraine goes back
more than a thousand years to a time when Kyiv was
the capital of the first Slavic state, Kyivan Rus, the
birthplace of both Ukraine and Russia as Vladimir
Putin recently asserted: “Russians and Ukrainians
are one people”. Ukraine has been carved up down
the centuries by marauding empires. Mongols,
Polish and Lithuanians in a way that Russia was not.
In the 17th century, Russian tsars ruled lands to the
east of the Dnieper River as "Left Bank" Ukraine
while lands to the west of the Dnieper, or "Right
Bank" Ukraine, were ruled by Poland, though in 1793
those lands too were annexed by Russia. A
Russification policy banned the use of the Ukrainian
language, and pressurised Ukrainians to convert to
the Russian Orthodox religion. The people were
Ukraine:
Ireland to
Russia’s
UK
Kyiv, 2022
March/April 2022 77
generally known as Rusyns or Ruthenians and the
ethnonym Ukrainians came into wide use only in the
20th century after the territory of Ukraine obtained
distinctive statehood in 1917. Stalin organised a
famine that killed millions in the 1930s and shipped
in lots of Russian speakers.
Ties to Russia
Because eastern Ukraine came under Russian rule
much earlier than western Ukraine, people in the
east have stronger ties to Russia, often speak
Russian (Russian and Ukrainian share 60% stem
words anyway) and have been more likely to support
Russian-leaning leaders.
Annexation of Crimea
Crimea was occupied and annexed by Russia,
irritated by the defenestration of Yanukovych, in
2014, followed shortly after by a separatist uprising
in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas that
resulted in the declaration of the Russian-backed
People’s Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk.
Ukrainian forces have been fighting pro-Russia
rebels in the east since 2014 in a conflict that has
killed some 14,000 people.
Threat of imminent war
Exploiting its overwhelming military superiority, as
Village went to press, Russia had amassed 190,000
troops on Ukraine’s borders and was expected to
attack simultaneously on several fronts, from the
north-east, the Donbas and Crimea. and Belarus,
Airstrikes would underpin a lightning drive south to
seize the capital, Kyiv. And encircle Ukraine’s army,
neutralising the country and its leaders. The US
estimates artillery, missile and bomb strikes and
ground clashes could kill 50,000 civilians.
War
As Village went to print Putin had made an angry
speech and moved troops into Luhansk and Donetsk
which have been armed, financed and politically
controlled by Russia since 2014. But until now were
recognised as part of Ukraine.
Putin has also sent his military on a “peacekeeping
mission” to Ukraine, meaning that Russia will
formally occupy sovereign Ukrainian territory for a
second time following the 2014 annexation of
Crimea. But in this case, Russia has not annexed the
territories. A document signed by Putin on Monday
also allows him to establish military bases or place
missiles in the territories. The bourses were diving,
Germany suspended its Nordstream gas-pipeline
collaboration with Russia and Boris Johnson was
tearing around finding Russians to sanction.
Invasion of Ukraine could destabilise former
Soviet republics such as now independent Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania (EU members), as well as Belarus,
Georgia and Ukraine.
Irish analogies and influence
Russia’s relationship to Ukraine is clearly analogous
to that of the UK to Ireland: a bigger and far more
powerful neighbour, partially shares history, culture
and religion with a division on ethnic rather than
racial lines. Most Ukrainians are Eastern Orthodox
Christians. A significant minority of Ukraine‘s
population consider themselves Russian -
analogously to the North of Ireland where a majority
considers itself British first and Irish second.
It would be preferable if Ukraine signalled it will
never join Nato but in any event Ireland should
exercise its influence to support Ukraine, a
beleaguered but honourable and modern country in
retaining its independence from foreign interference
and indeed carnage. Such is the foundation of the
United Nations.
Solutions
It is forgotten that early in his first Presidency Putin
wanted to join both Nato and the EU – bonds that
could now be oered, long-term. Beyond that, we
should use our limited influence to see that the
balance between Nato and Russia does not prejudice
Russia’s sovereignty. Russia’s national pride, and
Putin’s hubris, are of less concern.
As of 21 Februry
Ukrinin soldiers inspecting crter left by mortr explosion t front-line position in
Novozvnivk, estern Ukrine, 21 Februry
