Currently, according to various estimates, there are three to ten million Ukrainians in Russia. However, a fully organized life of conscious Ukrainian communities in the Russian Federation is possible only after the empire’s collapse, stated Paul Grod, President of the Ukrainian World Congress, in an interview with Ukrainska Khvylia [“Ukrainian Wave”].
“Today, any conscious Ukrainian movement in Russia is impossible. Even this form of “sharovarshchyna” [limited and corrupted representations of Ukrainian folklore – ed.], which was previously allowed by the Putin regime, has almost disappeared today. And most of the leaders of the Ukrainian community, who closely cooperated and were members of the World Congress of Ukrainians, almost all left Russia. They were under great threat, criminal threat. An open ethnocide of the Ukrainian people is occurring in Russia,” Grod explained.
Fully restoring and preserving the Ukrainian community in Russia is possible only after the transformation of the Russian Federation. “Russian chauvinism must be destroyed. We must see democracy in Russia. And only then, perhaps, conscious Ukrainian communities in Russia will develop normally,” the UWC President is convinced.
At the same time, the empire’s destruction is possible only if Ukraine wins the war with Russia, Grod adds. Future membership in NATO will also help to strengthen Kyiv’s position. Currently, there is even competition between Ukraine’s partners in supporting the Armed Forces.
“We see it in Canada, in the United Kingdom, in Australia,” Grod says. However, it is important to continue promoting the issue of Ukraine in the international arena so that the level of support remains high, the UWC President concluded.
Cover: Reuters
