75 years ago today, Hitler invaded Poland, starting WWII

[Czechmate]

That doesn't answer the original question, when talking about ethnicity I'm talking about those who regard themselves culturally and linguistically as Ukrainian as opposed to those who regard themselves as culturally and linguistically Russian. Once more, what numbers of these defectors are ethnically Ukrainian?

If you know the language it is very similar only a small difference like English and Scottish . They are all Ukrainian my friend and were proud of it , it is just a different of opinion which way you want to believe in , the EU or Russia which is more political , culturally they are very similar (perhaps you should visit Russia and Ukraine ). I know a few people in Dnepropetrovsk who are ethnic Ukrainian's as you seem to put it but have many relatives in Russia . It's like saying how many ethnic British are there and they will all argue that they are all British and why not ?, even though their past relatives come from overseas or Scotland for the sake of this argument . Why ask the question ? we are talking about the situation now and there has been over half a million people displaced from THEIR homes !!! They are all regarding themselves as Ukrainian else why would they live there

I went to Donetsk for a few days for the Euro's and they were very friendly and proud to be Ukrainian , now they have decided they prefer to be associated with Russia more than the EU because they were never asked or included in talks with Kiev so they are very sceptical with the EU and it's own government for bombing it's own people .

 

[Uncle Buck]

If you know the language it is very similar only a small difference like English and Scottish . They are all Ukrainian my friend and were proud of it , it is just a different of opinion which way you want to believe in , the EU or Russia which is more political , culturally they are very similar (perhaps you should visit Russia and Ukraine ). I know a few people in Dnepropetrovsk who are ethnic Ukrainian's as you seem to put it but have many relatives in Russia . It's like saying how many ethnic British are there and they will all argue that they are all British and why not ?, even though their past relatives come from overseas or Scotland for the sake of this argument . Why ask the question ? we are talking about the situation now and there has been over half a million people displaced from THEIR homes !!! They are all regarding themselves as Ukrainian else why would they live there

I went to Donetsk for a few days for the Euro's and they were very friendly and proud to be Ukrainian , now they have decided they prefer to be associated with Russia more than the EU because they were never asked or included in talks with Kiev so they are very sceptical with the EU and it's own government for bombing it's own people .

Hmmmm.

In Crimea last summer the ethnic Russians were very obvious (the Russian flags in their cars), yet the younger tour guide we had in Yalta, saw herself as Ukrainian and pro-European.

In Kiev, our tour guide, although much older, was very much a Ukrainian and fiercely anti Russian.

 

[Theatre of Trees]

If you know the language it is very similar only a small difference like English and Scottish . They are all Ukrainian my friend and were proud of it , it is just a different of opinion which way you want to believe in , the EU or Russia which is more political , culturally they are very similar (perhaps you should visit Russia and Ukraine ). I know a few people in Dnepropetrovsk who are ethnic Ukrainian's as you seem to put it but have many relatives in Russia . It's like saying how many ethnic British are there and they will all argue that they are all British and why not ?, even though their past relatives come from overseas or Scotland for the sake of this argument . Why ask the question ? we are talking about the situation now and there has been over half a million people displaced from THEIR homes !!! They are all regarding themselves as Ukrainian else why would they live there

I went to Donetsk for a few days for the Euro's and they were very friendly and proud to be Ukrainian , now they have decided they prefer to be associated with Russia more than the EU because they were never asked or included in talks with Kiev so they are very sceptical with the EU and it's own government for bombing it's own people .

Language might indeed be similar, like English and Scottish, but would you call those the same ethnically and culturally? By the way there is no such thing as being ethnically British - you, like I, may regard your nationality as British, but ethnically I'm English. Likewise, those living in the state of Ukraine may hold Ukrainian nationality but regard themselves ethnically as either Ukrainian or Russian, unless they happen to be a Crimean Tatar or other such minor nationality. For the record all Soviet censuses differentiated between ethnically Ukrainian and ethnically Russian, as did the last Ukrainian census of 2001 which incidentally recorded the numbers as 78% Ukrainian, 12% Russian and 10% made up of other nationalities.

You made the following statement:

just look how many hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have defected to Russia .

I was interested in knowing what their ethnicity was, something you seem to be confusing with nationality, because it would make a big difference in my understanding of what is going on, largely it being a revived ethnic struggle within the state with two outside elements drawn in. Until that struggle is resolved then it is probably going to get worse. How it resolves itself now depends on how those outside powers agree for it to be resolved, as local politicians have failed to do this over the last 20 years.

 

[Czechmate]

Language might indeed be similar, like English and Scottish, but would you call those the same ethnically and culturally? By the way there is no such thing as being ethnically British - you, like I, may regard your nationality as British, but ethnically I'm English. Likewise, those living in the state of Ukraine may hold Ukrainian nationality but regard themselves ethnically as either Ukrainian or Russian, unless they happen to be a Crimean Tatar or other such minor nationality. For the record all Soviet censuses differentiated between ethnically Ukrainian and ethnically Russian, as did the last Ukrainian census of 2001 which incidentally recorded the numbers as 78% Ukrainian, 12% Russian and 10% made up of other nationalities.

You made the following statement:



I was interested in knowing what their ethnicity was, something you seem to be confusing with nationality, because it would make a big difference in my understanding of what is going on, largely it being a revived ethnic struggle within the state with two outside elements drawn in. Until that struggle is resolved then it is probably going to get worse. How it resolves itself now depends on how those outside powers agree for it to be resolved, as local politicians have failed to do this over the last 20 years.

Apart from asking the border guards to ask the people as they go through the border control , you can't even get near a figure , it's just guess work. I am sure the Russians in Crimea didn't cross the border , and that is where the majority of Russians I would say are based , the rest are probably scattered around Ukraine including Kiev where I expect a lot of Russian business people live . The majority of the rest are probably based in the East .

If you want to understand what is going on you should really start at the beginning , and there has been many threads on here about it , start with the coup/takeover (depending on what side you stand ) and then continue from there .

It was good to hear today that Poroshenko and Putin have finally agreed to a ceasefire , at least that is a start .

 

[Czechmate]

Hmmmm.

In Crimea last summer the ethnic Russians were very obvious (the Russian flags in their cars), yet the younger tour guide we had in Yalta, saw herself as Ukrainian and pro-European.

In Kiev, our tour guide, although much older, was very much a Ukrainian and fiercely anti Russian.

Crimea is a popular tourist destination for Russians as well as Ukrainians plus I would of thought many Russians have second homes there . Also up to 25,000 Russian troops have always occupied Crimea .

You definitely went at the right time mate ! wish I had gone now but didn't find the time when I was out there .