SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine – it is perhaps Ukraine’s most politicized and controversial city.
Since Ukraine achieved its independence in 1991, Sevastopol has been a flashpoint for identity politics and geopolitical wrangling between Russia and Ukraine –occasionally involving the West –over the basing of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and ownership rights over the city.
Often painted as a place rife with toxic ethnic animosity between its majority Russian and minority Ukrainian populations, it also remains at the helm of disputes between Moscow and Kyiv over historical memory and just how close Russians and Ukrainians should be. The scene is often the same: Russian officials contend that both nationalities come from the same pot and should thus entitle Russia to its privileges in Sevastopol –and elsewhere in Ukraine – while Ukrainian officials retort that Ukraine’s independence presupposes its control over all of its current territory, including Sevastopol.
But while officials exchange jabs and leverage Sevastopol to meet their own electoral needs, it’s the ordinary people who become caught up in the politics. While many indeed harbor pro-Russian sympathies, they say the issue is too often harped upon, causing conflict where there shouldn’t necessarily be.
“In my opinion, it’s a Russian city –history points to that,” said Nona Konstantinova, a 63-year-old ethnic Russian. “Russians and Ukrainians are one people, and so we should live in harmony. But I’m not a fanatic. Others may feel differently, and I accept their opinions. It’s the powers from above that make this an issue and complicate things.”
Sevastopol often finds itself at the heart of thorny regional disputes, among them the recurrent question of separatist threats. According to the 2001 national census, the city is made up of about 71 percent ethnic Russians, and about 22 percent ethnic Ukrainians, among others.
What’s more, the Russian Black Sea Fleet has enjoyed a long and storied history there, which its proponents –among them top Russian officials –make sure to highlight.
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has been the most prominent advocate of Russia’s claim to Sevastopol, repeatedly claiming that it is a “Russian city,” comments that provoked former President Viktor Yushchenko to ban him from Ukraine in 2007. In the past few years, Luzhkov has flooded Sevastopol with cash for several projects to ensure Russian influence remains in the city.
Sevastopol residents celebrate Russia Day in Sevastopol on June 12. (UNIAN)
Language has also proven a difficult issue, one that residents said Yushchenko only helped exacerbate. His strong advocacy of the Ukrainian language, even in traditionally Russian-speaking territories such as Crimea, helped alienate swathes of Russian-speaking Ukrainian citizens.
“If you speak Russian all of your life and aren’t forced to speak Ukrainian, then everything is fine,” said Yulia Gladenko, a 26-year-old teacher and translator in Sevastopol. “But if you’re forced to study in Ukrainian, watch films in Ukrainian, then it leads to negative attitudes to the language and the general policy.”
But Gladenko, whose ethnic background is half-Russian, half-Armenian and who speaks both Russian and Ukrainian, said she has never experienced overt tensions between Russian and Ukrainian speakers.
“On a human level, we do not have such problems,” she said. “I’ve never seen any serious confrontations. It’s all extremely politicized.”
Perhaps the most telling moment came on Aug. 24, Ukrainian Independence Day, when the city’s Nakhimov Square hosted a concert in commemoration of the holiday. Hundreds appeared, some waving Ukrainian flags, to watch a modern mash-up of popular Ukrainian songs. Some artists sang in Ukrainian, others in Russian.
At one point, one of the few men dressed in a traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt appeared involved in a verbal scuffle with a Russian naval officer watching the show. The two argued –the man in Ukrainian and the officer in Russian –about Russia’s apparent creeping incursion into the region.
After awhile, however, the two seemed to make up, laughing off their differences before shaking hands and strolling off together toward the waterfront.
“Is everything okay?” the Ukrainian speaker asked. “Of course,” the officer replied. “Everything is fine.”
Dan Peleschuk is a freelance journalist in Kyiv.
