Ukrainian Sovereignty Quotes
Historically Ukraine has been not only a part of Russia but a key part. The first Russian leader who unified the Russian nation and fought off the Mongols and Roman Catholic Western invaders came from the Ukraine. The origin of the Russian Orthodox Church was in the Ukraine. And the people of the Ukraine played a central and pivotal role in the Russian Revolution. And in World War II, despite a minoirty of Ukrainian nationalists who fought with the Nazis, the Ukraine bore much of the brunt of the German onslaught and the 22 million Russians who were killed, and yet fought so well that the Nazis were defeated. Many of the great Russian Heroes have been from the Ukraine. From the Russian point of view, Ukraine, was noi less a part of Russia than Florida, Iowa or Nebraska were to the United States.
The notion that a the first line of a national anthem should be focused on the survival of the nation is explained by the history of countries that have and have not existed having been overrun and occupied and absorbed into other nations. That fear exists centuries later. See Poland for another example {642422}.
