Originally posted by Johnmike
Yeah, you're right. The Ukraine was much better off under its hundreds of years of Russian oppression and genocide.
Which years are you referring to? Can you give a range? Also genocide is quite a big word to be throwing around recklessly, especially given no
common agreement among historians.
Prior to 1990 Ukraine was never a single organized state with defined boundaries and sovereignty. It was part of various empires and kingdoms and its
geographical borders and ethnical content constantly shifted and varied. Much of what makes up Ukraine today was in fact originally conquered by the
Russian empire from the Ottomans and Poles, and was never part of ethnical Ukraine. And guess what allowed Ukraine to become independent in 1990 -
the disolution of the USSR brought about by a Russian (Gorbachev). As for the USSR era - Ukraine was as much a part of the Soviet Union as Russia
was. Khruschev in fact was Ukrainian. So oppression is a figurative term. Throughout Russian and Ukrainian history in fact, Ukraine and Russia have
never been enemies.
And why even bring the Soviet Union and Russian Empire into the discussion? We are talking about how Ukraine changed between 1990's and early
2000's and when Yuschenko came into power.