The myth of a divided Ukraine
Innes Doig says facts belie Ukraine's image as a nation torn between Ukrainian and Russian speakers, and by a choice of Russia or Europe
A recent conversation took place in Hong Kong between two Ukrainians. One was a Ukrainian native speaker, the mother tongue of the other was Russian. Both spoke in their respective first languages and the conversation flowed smoothly. It is a situation repeated every day in the country itself.
The Russian speaker is my wife; I lived in Ukraine from 2003 to 2006. Both our daughters were born in the country. All three of them, despite having Russian as their first language, speak fluent Ukrainian. In this they are not exceptional.
As this great country experiences distressing destruction, the issue of language is the biggest myth I continually hear. How often is the fact reported that there are both Ukrainian- and Russian-language schools in most parts of the country?
Believe any of the maps purporting to show the country's linguistic divide and Kiev would be a city where Ukrainian clearly dominates. Not so. Andrey Kurkov, Ukraine's most widely read contemporary author, pens all his darkly witty novels in Russian. No one has been persecuted for speaking Russian - ever.
The other major myth is of an irrevocable split between "pro-Europeans" and "pro-Russians". Most people simply want to preserve the unity of the nation, cut the appalling levels of corruption and build a better future. If they look to Europe, they aspire economically to be the next Poland, not Germany. They want good ties with both Europe and Russia. Many have family in Russia or worked there.
The average Ukrainian is really not interested in playing geopolitical games and is, anyway, used to the country being pulled from a number of sides - the word Ukraine after all means "borderland". Membership of Nato is a non-issue.