2.1 “Ukraine is not a legitimate nation, it was created by Lenin, Ukrainian is not a real language (but a Russian dialect)”

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Examples:

True or False: FALSE

First of all, Ukraine is a sovereign, independent country, recognized in it’s entirety since 1991 by the whole world including Russia (until 2014). An independent country has the right to territorial integrity, no matter the history of the country and it’s origin. So does it really matter? Once a independent country, it’s independent. Needless to say, other countries have no right to question another country’s legitimacy or right to exist. It’s absurd and is, of course, contrary to the UN charter .

But for the sake of argument, lets check this. The first modern Ukrainian state was created in the beginning of the 20th century. During some turbulent years, with changing boarders, a full Ukrainian statehood was established with the flag, coat of arms and national anthem as we know it today.

Map of the Ukrainian People’s Republic (1918.II) (Wikipedia)

The Ukrainian language was already then official language of the republic. Fastforward a bit and it later became one of the founding republics of the Soviet union, the USSR. It finally became independent in 1991 when the Soviet Union dissolved and an overwhelming majority voted for Ukrainian independence .

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But what about the Ukrainian “nation”, in a broader sense? The word “nation” can also refer to a group of people who share a history, traditions, culture and, often, language—even if the group does not have a country of its own. While often dominated by Russia and other big powers, no one deny the existence of a people living in Ukrainians lands, speaking the Ukrainian language. Already in the Cossack republics in the 17-18th century, the “Hetmanates”, the Ukrainian language was in use. Later on, the writer, poet and artist Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861) played an important role in strengthening the existing Ukrainian language and nationhood (although not in an independent nation) back in the 19th century. As shown the Ukrainian nation is not a new innovation, nor the work of Russia or Lenin.

The Ukrainian language is an East Slavic language that traces it roots hundreds of years back in time. As a Slavic language it shares many features with the Russian language, but also many interesting aspects of other Slavic languages as well as having its many own unique traits . Belonging to the same language family do not mean being the same languages, nor dialects of the same language.

What if the Russian language, instead, turned out be just an Ukrainian dialect? Just imagine this for a second. Would it then give Ukraine the right to invade Moscow and other Russian territories, claiming all Russians to actually be Ukrainians, and striving to erase all about the Russian language and identity from this point? This, if any, should show how absurd this kind of reasoning is!

Summary: While historical borders or territorial expanse don’t give any right to invade an independent country, one can easily conclude that Ukrainian history, culture and language and the Ukrainian “nation” dates hundreds for years back in time. The modern Ukrainian nation emerged as a independent state before being absorbed into the Soviet Union (the USSR) and the Ukrainian state or nation is by no means an invention of Lenin, Bolsheviks or any other Russian involvement. These claims are all FALSE.