These sentiments were expressed by Arch-priest Peter G. Kohanik of the Russian Orthodox Church in an article with an equally strongly worded title “The Biggest Lie of the Century ‘The Ukraine.’” The article appeared in a Russian American monthly in December 1952.
How is this relevant today? Well, bolshevism is dead. The Great Russian Empire is very much alive spanning many time zones but bereft of its jewel, Ukraine. The Russian Orthodox Church in America is reunited with the Moscow Patriarchate despite the latter’s legacy of work as an intelligence agent and subservience to the Kremlin. In fact the Russian Orthodox Church has always done a little of this and that. Frankly, its power in Russia was exceeded only by the czar and today only by Vladimir Putin and, maybe, Dmitri Medvedev.
Were he alive today Arch-priest Peter G. Kochanik would be very much involved in realizing his vision of the Great Russian Empire with “Little Russia” intact. In the past the czar would simply overrun Ukraine. Today the Russian Empire has to take little steps in order to reconstitute itself, the world be damned. Russia’s disregard for human rights and minority rights within its borders is notorious. During a recent visit to Russia, the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights reported, “Russia currently has the highest number of cases pending before the European Court of Human Rights.” This was attributed in part to endemic problems within Russia’s own legal system. Still this sentiment communicated a level of opprobrium with little or no consequences.
Russia’s law on religion recognizes only religions which had been active under Josef Stalin with Russian Orthodoxy the preeminent force. Ukrainian Orthodoxy or Ukrainian Catholicism are outlawed officially, although permitted to function without legal registration or property ownership. Minorities function but receive no state assistance. In fact Russia does not have a ministry dealing with minorities despite Council of Europe mandate. In the case of the Ukrainian minority which is the largest in Russia, most recently, Russia has undertaken serious steps to limit further its activities. Dissolution of the two major Ukrainian umbrellas is currently before the courts in Russia and Strasbourg. Foreign minister Lavrov has acknowledged the political nature of the dissolution.
Anti-Ukrainian xenophobia amongst Russians is not only governmental, but institutional and societal.
Several year s ago I attended annual observances of Ukrainian independence hosted by the Ukrainian Embassy at the “Ukraina” hotel in Moscow. Among the attendees was the notorious xenophobe Vladimir Zhirinovsky. In the course of the evening Zhirinovsky and I raised several toasts together, he, mockingly for the health of the Ukrainian Diaspora, and I, that his political party reflect its liberal and democratic name. After several toasts, Zhirinovsky said to me, “You know this Ukrainian independence is only temporary.” At this point the bonhomie ribbing ceased.
Unfortunately, Prime Minister Putin, President Medvedev and Patriarch Kyril are much more like Zhirinovsky than the late Andrei Sakharov. Come to think of it, the late gifted writer and ostensible human rights defender Alexander Solzhenitzyn was a Great Russian chauvinist. Anti-Ukrainian xenophobia amongst Russians is not only governmental, but institutional and societal. It’s endemic because of hundreds of years of propaganda and skewed historiography.
Ukraine is about to celebrate twenty years of existence as an independent and somewhat democratic state. By English common law practices as to real estate, the people of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people are at the very least entitled to their land by adverse possession. Language and historiography have a long way to go. So the mantra at hopefully this first jubilant twenty year celebration has to be vigilance. God gave Ukrainians a beautiful and rich land, wonderful, hardworking and intelligent people, but he also gave them Russians as neighbors. Oops! Some xenophobia of my own. I hope so. Were I simply paranoid, I would have no reason to be concerned.
Askold S. Lozynskyj is the Ukrainian World Congress’ main representative to the United Nations. He can be reached at [email protected].
