Russians in Ukraine

Russians in Ukraine form the largest minority in that country, and the community forms the largest single Russian diaspora in the world. In the 2001 Ukrainian census, 8,334,100 identified themselves as ethnic Russians (17.3% of the total population), thereby making up the largest diaspora of the ethnic Russian population.

Geography

Percentage of ethnic Russians in Ukraine by region in 2001

Historically the majority of ethnic Russian population is concentrated in the east and south-east of the country. Many urban areas in other parts of Ukraine have a sizeable Russian population. In all oblasts of the country, with the exception of Crimea ethnic Russians constitute a minority. Procentage of Russian population in regions tend to go higher further east in the country.

Historic Background

Growth of Ukrainian identity

Russians and Ukrainians are both Eastern Slavic peoples (as well as Belorussians) and share a common ancestry. Physically separated by different powers after the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus in 13th century, different identities began to develop as a result. Although the term Ruthenian continued to be used to refer to all three branches of Eastern Slavic peoples by the end of the 19th century, with the rise of the Zaporozhian Cossacks and the Liberation wars of 1648, a separate identity was formed. After their alliance with Tsardom of Russia after the Treaty of Pereyaslav and eventual incorporation of Left-Bank Ukraine into the Russian Empire, attempts were made to incorporate Ukrainians into the Russian nation. Muscovite Russia used the term Little Russia to refer to the Cossack Hetmanate of Left-bank Ukraine, when it fell under Russian protection. While there were successes in the assimilation drive, by and large the Ukrainian separate identity survived, transforming from Ruthenian into Ukrainian.

Other Ruthenian provinces that remained outside the Russian Empire, included Austrian Galicia, Transcarpathia and Bukovyna had a surge of Russophilia which lasted from late 18th century until the end of the 19th century. However, in the late 19th and 20th centuries the Ukrainian national sentiment grew in all territories populated by Ukrainians. With the creation of first Ukrainian People's Republic and then the Ukrainian SSR, Ukrainians achieved their statehood, albeit limited, and became the dominant ethnic group in their country.

New Russia

Main article: Novorossiya

A map of what was called as New Russia during the Russian Empire times.

At the end of the 18th century, the Russian Empire captured large territories from the former Crimean Khanate. In order to keep them, a systematic colonization of land that became known as New Russia (mainly Crimea, Taurida and around Odessa) began. Migrants from many ethnic groups came to this area, a large portion came from Russia proper. At the same time the discovery of coal in the Donets Basin also began a large industrialization and an influx of workers from other parts of the Russian Empire.

Both Russians and Ukrainians made the bulk of the migrants — 31.8% and 42.0 % respectively. The population eventually became intermixed, and in the policy of Russification, the Russian identity dominated over mixed families and communities. Ukrainian separatism was suppressed as the Russian Empire officially regarded Ukrainians, Russians and Belarusians as Little, Great and White Russians, which, according to the Russian authorities belonged to a single Russian nation. These ethnic groups were considered members of the same nationality and as such, there were no restrictions placed on them, unlike on other ethnicities or nationalities, such as Jews and Poles

October Revolution and Ukrainian SSR

Ukraine was a battleground during the Russian Civil War (1918-1922). Although macroscopically Ukraine was fought over by several powers (Austro-Hungary, Germany, Poland); Ukrainian People's Republic, the Anarchist Black Army as well as the Red Army and the White Army. The population of New Russia by large, allied themselves only with the latter two . A large portion of men that made up the armies of Denikin and Wrangel came from New Russian volunteers (see Volunteer Army) .

The first census of the Russian Empire, conducted in 1897 showed extensive usage (and in some cases dominance) of the Ukrainian language (termed by imperial authorities as Little Russian) in the nine south-western Governorates and the Kuban Oblast. Thus when the Central Rada officials were oulining 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 Cossack Hetmanate incorporated into Russia in the 17th century. .

The October Revolution also found its echo amongst the extensive working class and several Soviet Republics were formed by Bolsheviks of Ukraine: Ukainian People's Socialist Republic, Soviet Socialist Republic of Taurida, Odessa Soviet Republic and the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog.

The Bolshevik government in Petrograd and later in Moscow supported military intervention against the Ukrainian People's Republic, which at different periods controlled most of the territory of the present-day Ukraine with the exception of Crimea . Althought there were differencies between Ukrainian Bolsheviks initially , which resulted in proclamation of several Soviet Republics in 1917, later, due in large part to pressure from Lenin and other Bolshevik leaders, one Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed . The UkSSR was de jure independent until the formation of the USSR in 1922 and survived until the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991. Lenin insisted that ignoring the national question in Ukraine was dangerous to their support among Ukrainian population and thus borders of the new UkSSR were established to the extent that the UNR was claiming in 1918 . The new borders completely included New Russia, Donbass and other neighbouring provinces, which contained substantial number of ethnic Russians.

Early Soviet times

After the Red Army victory in 1923, Stalin identified two threats to the still weak Soviet state: Great Power Chauvinism (Russian chauvinism) and separatist nationalism. .

In Ukraine's case, both threats came, respectfully, from the south and the east, and the traditional Ukrainian centre and west. This initiated a policy of Ukrainization, to simultaneously break the remains of the Russian nationalist sentiment and to gain favour of the Ukrainian population, thus recognizing their rights and their dominance of the republic.

Many communities of the Russian Orthodox Church were closed and transferred to the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church . Ukrainian language was mandatory for most jobs, and its teaching became compulsory in every school. By 1930 there were only three Russian language newspapers being printed in Ukraine and in places like Odessa where ethnic Ukrainian pupils made up only a third of school children, all schools taught in Ukrainian.

Latter Soviet times

Both the famine, the rapid industrialization, and the rebuilding of the World War II destruction prompted a new wave of migrants from the rest of the Soviet Union to settle in the Southern and Eastern Ukraine, thus increasing the proportion of the Russian speaking population. Near the end of WWII, the entire indigenous population of Crimean Tatars was expelled from their homeland in Crimea, as some of Tatars were accused of collaboration with the Germans. Almost quarter of a million people were exiled to the Central Asia areas. After the ethnic cleansing, another influx of mostly Russian settlers replaced the removed Tatars and thus increased the proportion of ethnic Russian population in the Crimea from 47.7% in 1937 to 61.6% in 1993.

In 1954, Nikita Khrushchev, in a controversial and contradictory move with respect to the acting Soviet law, transferred Crimea from the Russian SFSR to Ukraine, increasing the ethnic Russian population of Ukraine by almost a million people. Controversies and legality of the transfer still remain a sore point in relations between Ukraine and Russia, and in particular between 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

Modern Ukraine

During the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine became a separate state. As an independent country, Ukraine kept the borders of the UkSSR, with some regions featuring a large Russian population.

Politics

In several of Ukraine's elections, political parties that call for closer ties with Russia received higher percentage of votes in the areas, where ethic Russians and Russian-speaking population predominate. However, according to the census, of all the regions, only in Crimea do Russians make up more than 50% of the total population. Such parties like the Party of Regions, Communist Party of Ukraine and the Progressive Socialist Party are particularly popular in Crimea, Southern and Southeastern regions of Ukraine.

Culture

See article: Russian language in Ukraine

Famous Russians in Ukraine (from Ukraine)

• Oleg Antonov
• Anna Akhmatova
• Nikolay Bogolyubov
• Sergei Bondarchuk
• Mikhail Bulgakov
• Nikita Khrushchev
• Vladimir Korolenko
• Sergey Korolyov (Russian by father, Ukrainian by mother)
• Ivan Konev
• Yana Klochkova
• Sergei Alekseyevich Lebedev
• Eduard Limonov (Ukrainian by father)
• Anatoly Lunacharsky
• Yuri I. Manin
• Alexander Alexandrovich Morozov
• Yevgeny Petrov
• Nikolay Ivanovich Pirogov
• Sergei Prokofiev
• Ekaterina Serebrianskaya
• Kliment Voroshilov
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
• Nikolai Yaroshenko

Demographics

Census year	Total population of Ukraine	Russians	%
1922	29,018,187	2,677,166	9.2%
1939	30,946,218	4,175,299	13.4%
1959	41,869,046	7,090,813	16.9%
1970	47,126,517	9,126,331	19.3%
1979	49,609,333	10,471,602	21,1%
1989	51,452,034	11,355,582	22.1%
2001	48,457,000	8,334,100	17.2%

Trends

In general the population of ethnic Russians in Ukraine has shown a systematic decrease in all regions, both quantitatively and proportionally. 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. Many 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 was also hit by the factors that affected all the population of Ukraine, such as low birth rate and high death rate.

See also

• Russian language in Ukraine
• Demographics of Ukraine

External links

• Russian community in Ukraine Template:Ru icon
• Russian movement in Ukraine Template:Ru icon