Kyiv students provide perspective on Ukrainian independence (08/26/01)

THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF UKRAINE'S INDEPENDENCE

Kyiv students provide perspective on Ukrainian independence

by Iryna Lawrin and Liuda Liulko

Ten years ago they were kids and probably not fully aware of what was happening or what it meant when Ukraine declared independence on August 24, 1991. Today they are university students, some of them attending the best universities the country has to offer. In the last ten years, as they have grown to adulthood, they have watched the country fight to overcome economic malaise and to develop a democratic, civil society based on the rule of law. It has been difficult for society as a whole and undoubtedly for many of these students.

We thought it would be interesting to ask them their impressions of ten years of Ukrainian independence. We put two questions to them: First, what are your impressions of 10 years of independence in general? And second, what specific incident or event over the last 10 years sticks in your mind? Here are their responses.

Volodymyr Havrylov, 20, Kyiv, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy:

Independence is a normal process for any state. My attitude is totally positive, and I believe it is a very natural process and a logical one too.

Around the time independence was declared I spent a lot of time in western Ukraine, and I remember large meetings of people who wanted independence and the huge spiritual uplift felt by the people. This was probably the brightest moment - the most notable moment of all that is tied to independence. This is most likely because then there were romantic expectations, and now there is merely the plain everyday drudgery, and that is never a bright spot.

Olena Khazinova, 17, Kyiv, National University of Culture and the Arts:

[An independent Ukraine] is better than belonging to the USSR. It is better that our country is independent, although while we are independent we are still too dependent on Russia and on other countries.

The fact that everything in Kyiv is being reconstructed and remodeled; the digs that are taking place; that everything is becoming better, more like Europe - that is my biggest impression.

Petro Horshkov, 21, Kyiv, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy:

My attitude towards independence is positive, of course, because this is my country. But we have had many wasted chances, back since the very beginning in 1991-1992. The problem is that nothing was changed to the very root. When the same people hold the same positions, only having changed the color of their stripes, nothing can nor will get better.

My biggest impression is the construction in the capital. Kyiv is being rebuilt. There are also the presidential elections. But I can't tell you which ranks first [in importance] and which is second, because the elections didn't change anything for the better.

Mykhaylo Lukashuk, 17, Kyiv, Kyiv National Avionics University:

Independence is a nice thing. People are satisfied because we strove for it for many years. We wanted it for many years. Everything is being rebuilt. It's okay that we have problems; it's not all that bad. But now unemployment is falling, construction is booming and jobs are being created. Finally people have a little money in their pockets, and that is good.

Independence is a good thing. It's good that it happened for both the young and the old. Everything is getting better.

Yurii Zhukov, 23, National Medical University:

I am indifferent to Ukrainian independence. I believe that all the [construction] work that is currently underway smacks of grandiosity and nothing else.

Oleksandra, 17, Kyiv, Kyiv Polytechnical University:

I think that independence is a good thing, although I have yet to feel what it truly means. But I have felt the deep economic crisis of the 10 years of independence. Things are beginning to get better, however, and I think everything will be okay.

My single strongest memory is of the terrible traffic jams in Kyiv this past summer as the mayor rebuilt the city. They say that thanks to the renovation work, however, in the future there will be absolutely no traffic jams.

Oksana, 18, National University of Consumer Technology:

It is better to be independent, as a single unitary state. As for what lasting images I have, I always remember the athletes and musicians who perform at various international events and give a positive image of Ukraine.

Anastasia Makeyeva, 18, Dnipropetrovsk, National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy:

I will list those events I believe would be most often mentioned [in regards to events that left lasting impressions]: the visit by President Bill Clinton to Ukraine; the visit by the pope of Rome to Ukraine; and the visit of Sting [the rock musician].

The visits epitomize and personify in some way three differing aspects of society: culture, religion and politics. The unifying aspect here is that the visits by the three were examples of the much-liberalized mindset of society, at least on the surface.

And of course independence was that starting point from which the progressiveness and the changes in our society began. Thus far it has been difficult.

For me, for example, before independence was finally achieved, I had a very idealized vision of what that meant. I am from the eastern oblasts, and there a different attitude exists, a different atmosphere than in Kyiv. When I moved here I realized that I had too many expectations. Regardless of the problems that exist, created by us, a beginning has sprouted, and it is not a bad one.

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