[Ask Me Anything] I am Ukrainian American

[Igor]

Hi,

My name is Igor and I spent 25 years living in Ukraine. It is the country where I grew up, studied and married.

I have studied in Kyiv (Capital of Ukraine) and I have connections from all parts of Ukraine. I am native in both Ukrainian and Russian languages. I moved to the U.S. in 2013 but my family and relatives are still there. Most of my friends here are from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.

Please ask me anything. I promise to answer honestly or do not answer at all.

Just a note: I understand this forum is highly moderated so my posts can be banned, edited or deleted.

Glory to Ukraine!

[Hardkill]

How are you and your family holding up?

[vizual]

How do people in Western Ukraine think and talk about the people in the Eastern regions? I have read there is quite the divide within the country, kind of like in Belgium there is quite the cultural difference and divide between the Flemish and the Walloons.

[Preety_India]

What percentage population of Ukraine is Jewish? 

[Igor]

I was frightened first 48 hours (two nights). I am subscribed to a lot of telegram channels that post information and videos about the current situation (a lot of dead burned bodies). I went thru different stages: rejection (first 5 mins), fear, helplessness, anger, patriotism + acceptance. I think my family and friends pretty much on the same page. My family is on the move all the time, back and forth between their shelter and underground cover (it is too cold and dark to stay in it for a long time).

[Igor]

12 minutes ago, vizual said:

How do people in Western Ukraine think and talk about the people in the Eastern regions? I have read there is quite the divide within the country, kind of like in Belgium there is quite the cultural difference and divide between the Flemish and the Walloons.

It is true, historically Ukraine has been divided based on language. I am from the central part of Ukraine and it was a nightmare to always find a common ground between Ukrainian and Russian speaking people. It is like you just switch your language each minute depending on the situation and person you speak with. I think most of the issues were language related. But it was never violent (at least for me as I speak both). Before I left it was like... you watch TV in Ukrainian, switch channel and have a movie in Russian, switch again and there is TV show with two hosts: one speaks Russian and other one speak Ukrainian and it was fine because everyone understands both. In the last 8 years Ukraine changed a lot... people started to appreciate Ukrainian language more, most of my friends switched to Ukrainian language only to support our independence. I think that is where Putin made a mistake in his calculations (that is my opinion). In 2014 he would definitely had a blitzkrieg operation but now he is detached from reality and Truth.

[Hardkill]

18 minutes ago, Preety_India said:

What percentage population of Ukraine is Jewish? 

According to wikipedia, approximately 3.1% of people in Ukraine speak Hebrew. So, I am guessing that that is also the percent of Ukranian citizens who are Jewish. 

Btw, I myself actually have a lot of Ukranian Jewish blood and Russian Jewish blood.

[Igor]

16 minutes ago, Preety_India said:

What percentage population of Ukraine is Jewish? 

There is some percentage but I do not know how much, you can probably google stats. To be honest I have never payed attention to that particular aspect. I know some of my friends are Jewish but we did not speak much about that, because nobody cared. I know Ukrainian president is Jewish, my wife's brother is married to a jewish woman. The last fact I only know because Jewish community always helps his family. 

[Hardkill]

42 minutes ago, Igor said:

I was frightened first 48 hours (two nights). I am subscribed to a lot of telegram channels that post information and videos about the current situation (a lot of dead burned bodies). I went thru different stages: rejection (first 5 mins), fear, helplessness, anger, patriotism + acceptance. I think my family and friends pretty much on the same page. My family is on the move all the time, back and forth between their shelter and underground cover (it is too cold and dark to stay in it for a long time).

I am truly sorry about this. I can't even begin to imagine what you and your family are going through. You all are extremely brave.

 

[Igor]

Nobody asked but I will still say something. My childhood was 90s: post soviet countries have been recovering after fall of USSR. My family and friends were poor, we had no money and I saw a lot of violence and criminal things. Everyone would do anything to solve their basic needs. Gangs were popular, movies about criminals were hits and everyone wanted to be a part of that luxury but short life. During my middle school years I had a lot of situation when I needed to fight, was robbed or had a knife near my throat. We were raised like that and it was normal. I think everything changed around 2000 or maybe I was just smarter and stronger. My best years were around 2008-2013 when I moved to Kyiv. It is very cultural, diverse city and united city with a lot of smart people. It gave me chance to work in respected field and move to the U.S.

[trenton]

@Igor I'm curious.

Other countries often think of Americans as self absorbed to the point that we don't even know the prime minister of Canada.  Do you think that Americans are too self absorbed?  If so, how does this cripple our understanding of the world and what are we overlooking?  Are we insensitive or close minded to other cultures?  How might our behaviors change if we were more aware of the differences in how other cultures think?

If Americans are more self absorbed than the average citizen in other nations, then it could add to the never ending story of me, making enlightenment more difficult.  A second example could include the occupation of the middle East without recognizing that these countries need to evolve on their own to naturally topple the dictators.  The United States worsened it by failing to appreciate the collective consciousness in the regions we occupied.

[Ananta]

3 hours ago, Igor said:

Glory to Ukraine!

My heart goes out to you and all the Ukraine citizens ❤.

God bless your family/friends that still live there.?

Do you like President Zelensky? I personally think he comes across as a bad-ass with big balls?.

Biden offered to fly him out of the country. President Zelensky said, "I need ammunition, not a ride ".

Edited March 2, 2022 by Ananta

[Igor]

4 hours ago, trenton said:

@Igor I'm curious.

Other countries often think of Americans as self absorbed to the point that we don't even know the prime minister of Canada.  Do you think that Americans are too self absorbed?  If so, how does this cripple our understanding of the world and what are we overlooking?  Are we insensitive or close minded to other cultures?  How might our behaviors change if we were more aware of the differences in how other cultures think?

If Americans are more self absorbed than the average citizen in other nations, then it could add to the never ending story of me, making enlightenment more difficult.  A second example could include the occupation of the middle East without recognizing that these countries need to evolve on their own to naturally topple the dictators.  The United States worsened it by failing to appreciate the collective consciousness in the regions we occupied.

Ah... that is a hard one to answer. I think it is pretty much the same everywhere - you care about things that matter for your survival, beyond that it is mostly about luck, amount of free time you have, and your curiosity.  You need to understand that a lot of people in Russia, Ukraine or even here are on the poverty level somewhere between purple/red. When I just moved in to the U.S., I remember one woman asked me: "Ukraine? What state is that?" but I cannot blame her. I was very bad with geography in school but I've learned countries thru visas in my passport.

[Igor]

3 hours ago, Ananta said:

My heart goes out to you and all the Ukraine citizens ❤.

God bless your family/friends that still live there.?

Do you like President Zelensky? I personally think he comes across as a bad-ass with big balls?.

Biden offered to fly him out of the country. President Zelensky said, "I need ammunition, not a ride ".

I moved out from Ukraine before he became president but I used to watch a lot of comedy shows with him as I grew up. He is very-very smart guy, he knows psychology of people, what to say and trigger any emotions. He has a natural talent for that, no questions. Is he authentic? I do not think so. Is he sincere? I hope so. I think he is definitely reflects current mood and leads people somewhere.

As a person who watched both Putin and Zelenskyy speeches recently I would say Putin is definitely more angry, hopeless and scared. It was a hard decision for Putin to make, probably with no inner circle support. 

[Ryan_047]

How did the Ukrainians perceive their neighbors (Russia, Moldova, Poland, Romania) before this war? I mean politically, culturally and whatnot. 

 

[BipolarGrowth]

Who is your favorite comedian? 

[vizual]

At least he didn't abandon ship like the kleptomaniac coward Ashraf Ghani did when shit hit the fan in his country. Just like the Royal family fled my country during WWII. It's especially in the hardest of times that a country needs their heads of state to stay put and firm, act as a symbol for the sovereignty of your country. 

[axiom]

10 hours ago, Igor said:

It is true, historically Ukraine has been divided based on language. I am from the central part of Ukraine and it was a nightmare to always find a common ground between Ukrainian and Russian speaking people. It is like you just switch your language each minute depending on the situation and person you speak with. I think most of the issues were language related. But it was never violent (at least for me as I speak both). Before I left it was like... you watch TV in Ukrainian, switch channel and have a movie in Russian, switch again and there is TV show with two hosts: one speaks Russian and other one speak Ukrainian and it was fine because everyone understands both. In the last 8 years Ukraine changed a lot... people started to appreciate Ukrainian language more, most of my friends switched to Ukrainian language only to support our independence. I think that is where Putin made a mistake in his calculations (that is my opinion). In 2014 he would definitely had a blitzkrieg operation but now he is detached from reality and Truth.

I find it interesting that in 2014 there was a vote to repeal the laws protecting regional languages. The vote was vetoed at the time by Oleksandr Turchynov who believed these languages should have a right to exist, particularly since there were so many ethnic Russians living in the East of the country. Nonetheless after years of wrangling, new "more constitutional" laws were introduced in 2019 which largely enforce the use of Ukrainian language nationwide. 

In Western and North-Central Ukraine here does appear to be a degree of public disdain / dislike towards Ukraine's ethnic Russians in the East. Some of this is a natural result of the fall of the SU in 1991 and is not dangerous as such. But there also appears to be a degree of overt hostility in the form of Neo Nazi militias such as Azov and C-14. The former is now recognised as part of the National Guard, and receives training and funding from Canada. It is also troubling to see such events as Andriy Parubiy (founder of white supremacist ideologues Svoboda / C14) becoming chairman of the Verkhovna Rada in 2016.

It is seemingly not difficult to paint a picture wherein "ethnic cleansing" appears to be a latent agenda.

So a couple of questions:

1. Do you see a future wherein Neo Nazism and related corruption in Ukraine can be thoroughly cleaned up?
2. Does the western funding, training and provision of advanced weaponry to Ukraine's Neo Nazi militias scare you? As personally I think this may end up being an even bigger issue than the horrible stuff we're currently seeing.

Edited March 2, 2022 by axiom

[hello1234]

7 hours ago, axiom said:

In Western and North-Central Ukraine here does appear to be a degree of public disdain / dislike towards Ukraine's ethnic Russians in the East. Some of this is a natural result of the fall of the SU in 1991 and is not dangerous as such. But there also appears to be a degree of overt hostility in the form of Neo Nazi militias such as Azov and C-14. The former is now recognised as part of the National Guard, and receives training and funding from Canada. It is also troubling to see such events as Andriy Parubiy (founder of white supremacist ideologues Svoboda / C14) becoming chairman of the Verkhovna Rada in 2016.

It is seemingly not difficult to paint a picture wherein "ethnic cleansing" appears to be a latent agenda.

So a couple of questions:

1. Do you see a future wherein Neo Nazism and related corruption in Ukraine can be thoroughly cleaned up?
2. Does the western funding, training and provision of advanced weaponry to Ukraine's Neo Nazi militias scare you? As personally I think this may end up being an even bigger issue than the horrible stuff we're currently seeing.

I will answer this question as I am from the western Ukraine. The bullshit putin feeds russians about russian population being abused in Ukraine is complete total garbage. My neighbours speak russian, my best friend speaks russian, they never had any problems other than sometimes people (like my grandma for example, who btw was born and raised in russia) asking them to learn some Ukrainian already. We don’t have a “problem” with Neo-Nazis in Ukraine, if there are any, I never met any of them in my life. Obviously though, a population of 44 mil, will not be all angels, but this whole Neo-Nazi thing is blown out of proportions 10 thousand times

Edited March 2, 2022 by hello1234

[axiom]

45 minutes ago, hello1234 said:

I will answer this question as I am from the western Ukraine. The bullshit putin feeds russians about russian population being abused in Ukraine is complete total garbage. My neighbours speak russian, my best friend speaks russian, they never had any problems other than sometimes people (like my grandma for example, who btw was born and raised in russia) asking them to learn some Ukrainian already. We don’t have a “problem” with Neo-Nazis in Ukraine, if there are any, I never met any of them in my life. Obviously though, a population of 44 mil, will not be all angels, but this whole Neo-Nazi thing is blown out of proportions 10 thousand times

Very interesting, thanks.