President of Shevchenko Scientific Society of Ukraine comments on continuing Russification (07/29/01)

President of Shevchenko Scientific Society of Ukraine comments on continuing Russification

by Dr. Orest Popovych

NEW YORK - Anyone who has visited Ukraine in recent years can offer anecdotal examples of the growing Russification there, but the subject matter rises to an altogether different level when it is presented and analyzed by a scholar intimately familiar with the processes occurring in Ukraine and also willing to talk about them openly.

Such qualifications are met by Dr. Oleh Romaniv, a member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, president of the Shevchenko Scientific Society (NTSh) in Ukraine and secretary general of the society's World Council, who spoke at the NTSh home in New York City on June 29.

When the Soviet Union collapsed 10 years ago, everyone expected a rapid establishment of a national Ukrainian state, Dr. Romaniv began. However, the initial euphoria has now passed, and Ukraine has found itself afflicted with a life-threatening disease whose symptoms are political and social-economic problems, a low level of social consciousness and morals, as well as an increasing threat to its language and culture.

Although 10 years of independence have witnessed some promotion of the Ukrainian language in schools, in the development of terminology, the publication of dictionaries and in general usage, the difficulties that have now surfaced have deep historical roots, he continued. To understand them one must recall the decimation of the Ukrainian nation by the Great Famine and the executions and deportations of the Great Terror during the 1930s, followed by an influx of non-Ukrainians during the periods of industrialization, urbanization and World War II. All these processes and the accompanying mixing of the USSR's nationalities, resulted in the displacement of the Ukrainian, and other languages, by Russian.

Therefore, it is no wonder that after a brief resurgence of the Ukrainian language following the declaration of Ukraine's independence in 1991 came the Russian reaction both from within the country and from Russia, Dr. Romaniv said. Many of Ukraine's government officials are members of the old Soviet Russian-speaking "nomenklatura," who use the Ukrainian language only when facing television cameras. Some of them, however, demonstratively refuse to speak Ukrainian even when performing their official duties, despite the fact that Ukrainian is the official state language, Dr. Romaniv observed, adding that, unfortunately, they are never penalized for breaking the language law.

Another bastion of the Russian language is the armed forces of Ukraine and their officer corps. The speaker noted that it is significant that they also disregard the historical traditions of Ukrainian armed forces other than that of the Kozaks.

The new intensified Russification of Ukraine has resulted from the fact that the country is being run by so-called oligarchic structures or clans, also known as the "new capital," which is derived from the shadow economy. These oligarchs, explained Dr. Romaniv, are mostly non-Ukrainian or even anti-Ukrainian - some undoubtedly in the service of Moscow. Yet today they control all areas of political, economic and social life in Ukraine, as well as the information sphere. By controlling the mass media they are able to inundate the country with Russian language and pop culture. Dr. Romaniv named television as the main culprit as most channels carry broadcasts in Russian. The anticipated new TV cable system is expected to add some 30 more Russian-language channels. Incidentally, he said, TV channels controlled by the oligarchs are devoid of political objectivity, as evidenced by their opposition to Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko.

Furthermore, Ukraine is being overwhelmed by Russian-language printed press and books, many of them imported from Russia. At Petrivka, the outdoor book bazaar in Kyiv, Russian-language books outnumber their Ukrainian-language counterparts 10 to 1. Part of the disparity is due to the taxes that are imposed on publications in Ukraine, but not in Russia. It is noteworthy that Ukraine receives most of its Western literature in Russian translation. How ironic, Dr. Romaniv stated, that Ukraine's coveted integration with the West is proceeding via Russia.

The latest vehicle in the Russification of Ukraine, the speaker related, turns out to be computerization and the Internet, where Russian predominates. For example, when 30,000 computers were ordered recently from Microsoft for use in Ukrainian schools, they were found to have Russian-language programs. Thanks to timely intervention in Kyiv by the NTSh, this error may be corrected. Dr. Romaniv also noted that he recently was shocked when a ticket he had purchased at the railroad station in Lviv turned out to be in Russian. The explanation: "That's how the computer prints."

Nevertheless, Dr. Romaniv said he remains optimistic about the future of the Ukrainian language in Ukraine, provided the national-democratic forces in the Parliament manage to unite in an effective coalition and the government institutes programs of preferential treatment for the Ukrainian language, akin to "affirmative action" policies for minorities in the United States. He pointed to a very positive development for the prestige of the Ukrainian language and statehood: the visit to Ukraine by Pope John Paul II, who addressed crowds in Ukrainian. "Let us be optimists and believe in our Ukrainian Ukraine," concluded the speaker from Lviv.

The program, which was chaired by Dr. Anna Procyk, a vice-president of the NTSh in America, included the presentation of the Mykhailo Hrushevsky medal to historian Prof. Alexander Dombrowsky in recognition of his scholarly work in the area of early Ukrainian history. The medal was presented on behalf of the NTSh of Ukraine by Dr. Romaniv, who was introduced by Dr. Larissa Zaleska Onyshkevych. Accepting the honor, Prof. Dombrowsky reminisced about his lifelong association with Ukrainian scholarship, dating back to the late 1930s in Lviv.

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