Forty-nine percent said they wanted to be part of the Russian Federation, with a roughly equal proportion saying they wanted to be a special autonomous region or just an ordinary part of Russia. Support for the war in Ukraine remains high but could potentially turn if concern over the high numbers of casualties persists, according to FilterLabs AI. He was born and raised in Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city with a pre-war population of 1.5 million that lies close to the Russian border, and remains Russian-speaking. This move became Moscows official pretext to annex Crimea and back separatists in Donbas. Highly-specialised books translated and published in Russia are often the only way for Ukrainian scholars or medical doctors to learn about new developments, he said. Memorial plaques with the names of ethnic Russian authors, artists scientists who visited, worked or lived in Ukraine have been removed or will be, soon. In the Ukrainian government-controlled areas, almost 3 in 4 respondents (72 percent) wanted the breakaway territories back within Ukraine. This article was originally written in German. If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. And while I tell myself that one day these contests may evolve into pro-social habits, mostly I like them because they seem to work, my girls are happy, and I scratch one or two things off the never-ending to-do list. Washington, DC 20005. That is no longer possible, and Archpriest Igor Zakharkinof the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate blames politicians. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, the Soviet-era Nova Kakhovka dam . On the one hand, the cultural landscape is being simplified by the loss of multiculturalism, the knowledge of one more language and the neighbours culture, Kyiv-based analyst Aleksey Kushch told Al Jazeera. The building sits on a snow-covered street that Google Maps still identifies as Lenin Street but locals now know as Peace Street. FilterLabs AI, which uses messages on the Telegram app, posts on social media and discussions on internet forums to track Russian public sentiment on a range of topics, has found that views on war casualties have become increasingly negative since late February. The West's resolve to support Ukraine remains, but its ability to supply advanced missiles and air defences are not infinite. (Some respondents may have decided whether to answer the call or participate in the survey according to whether it originated in Kyiv or Moscow, or may have replied with answers that they thought the interviewers wanted to hear.). But the Soviet-era parade of that name, celebrating unity between Slavic peoples, came to a halt in 2014, the year Russia forcibly annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine. The mayor of the southern city of Odesa said he objected to the removal of the bronze effigy of Russian Empress Catherine II who founded the city that became one of czarist Russias most cosmopolitan centres, similar to Lebanons Beirut or Egypts Alexandria. We change lives. Today it is Sister Yelisaveta, a Ukrainian nun, who rings Miloves church bells in the tower overlooking the border fence. If youd ask me a couple of years ago, I would have told you the old Russian ways were preferable, says Veronika. "I believe that it is a general generation-specific phenomenon," explains Warkentin, who himself came to Germany in the 1990s as a late repatriate from Kazakhstan. The survey protocol was approved by the University of Colorado Human Subjects board. And Im going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in. Russia apologists also lost a nightly champion in April when Fox News fired Carlson, followed a week later by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) making his most significant pro-Ukraine . Research in political psychology shows that Ukraine's Russian-speaking population does not require rescue by Russia or even want it. For most people here, Russians are kin, a view rooted in a common sense of history, local industries that remained intertwined until long after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and high rates of intermarriage. The older generations here call it rewriting history, says Nadiya Yaroslavivna, the schools headmistress. During an election campaign that ended with a landslide victory in 2018, Zelenskyy often spoke Russian and pledged to revise official steps that dramatically limited its public use. The youngest generations are now almost exclusively schooled in Ukrainian, and Russian is no longer the lingua franca of popular culture. But Tanya Mozgova, the librarian running the club, insists the city is undergoing a much wider linguistic shift. No traditions separate us, says Sergei Ivanovich, a Russian-speaking Ukrainian nationalist who says he is ready to take up arms to defend his land if necessary. We may already be seeing the impact of the Storm Shadow missiles. 2023 BBC. Watch on Hear from: Oleg Zhuravlev Researcher with Public Sociology Laboratory (Russia). The Ukrainian military said that 58 of 59 Russian drone strikes across the territory of Ukraine were intercepted by aerial defence systems. But Russias attack on Ukraines territory began in 2014. Any sense of kinship that she felt with Russia, growing up as a Russian speaker, was shattered when she witnessed the takeover of Luhansk, where she was teaching in 2014. That's when Russia unilaterally annexed Crimea and intervened to prop up separatists who sought to create Russian proxy states in . Somewhere on the other side, an estimated 130,000 Russian troops are massing. The margin of error does not exceed plus or minus 2.8 percent, and the response rate was 63 percent. Your session to The Christian He founded and led District 95, a popular comic troupe that mixed Russian and Ukrainian in its performances and often lambasted the Ukrainisation steps. Ukraine: How are citizens coping with the possibility of invasion? But it is not like that for everyone here. Andrei Kelin tells BBC: It is an idealistic mistake to think that Ukraine will prevail. Until age 35, I spoke fluent Russian, she recalls. Europe The war has many Ukrainians who speak Russian abandoning the language Interest in speaking Russian has been declining, particularly after Ukraine's pivotal 2014 pro-Western revolution.. In addition, older generations generally identify more strongly with their country of origin, partly because they spent their youth and childhood in countries of the former Soviet Union. That's the opinion of just under 40% of Russian speakers in Germany surveyed by the dimap research institute on behalf of DW; 15% believe. The linguistic balance between Ukrainian and Russian, two linguistic siblings, has changed dramatically in the past decade. The classes seem to be having at least some of the desired effect on three Russian-speaking girls sitting in the villages sole cafe, a mostly empty establishment garishly decorated in lime green and yellow. ago Let's just say, nobody wants bombs falling on their heads on the pretext of liberating you from yourself. Kyiv, Ukraine - A new national Ukraine poll (which included residents of Crimea), released today by IRI, found that, despite claims by Russia, Russian-speaking citizens living in Ukraine are not under pressure or threatened because of their language. Russian involvement on Mount Athos didn't draw attention until Russia invaded Ukraine Mount Athos in Greece is a revered site for the Orthodox Church and potentially attractive as an . Visitors to Ukraine can and have mistaken its widespread and relaxed bilingualism for linguistic interchangeability. That is, these are absolutely realistic guarantees. No traditions separate us, says Sergei Ivanovich, a Russian-speaking Ukrainian nationalist who says he is ready to take up arms to defend his land if necessary. We are rebuilding the Donbas. Given the missile's range, Russian military planners will again need to consider how to better protect logistics, command and control centres, and equipment stationed behind the frontline. Like a French person in Ukraine. I feel Slavic.. More Russian speakers in Germany blame the Kremlin than Kyiv for the war in Ukraine, a DW-commissioned poll has found. Copyright The Economist Newspaper Limited 2023. In the regional capital, also called Belgorod, 40km (25 miles) from Ukraine, no signs of panic are visible despite the frequent shells and drones that have fallen here for the last few months. Latest book reviews, author interviews, and reading trends. In response to a question by Vladimir Kara-Murzas wife, he said it was a decision of the courts rather than government-led oppression that led to Kara-Murzas 25-year jail term. Ukraine dams destruction could forever change ecosystems, officials say, Damage to Russian-held hydroelectric plant floods south Ukraine battlefield, Maps show how damaged Kakhovka dam hurts both Ukraine and Russia. New strategy is a work in progress. Many post-1991 emigrants from Ukraine to the West, for example, are Russian-speakers but nonetheless identify as Ukrainian and with the Ukrainian diaspora. For the purposes of the survey, "Russian speakers" refersto native speakers with a migration history in Russia or another former republic of the Soviet Union. Russia is 16 times bigger than Ukraine. Himars are also, in part, credited for a Ukrainian shift to Western-style flexibility in tactics. Ukraine has been fighting against these proxy states since. But today Ukrainians and Russians are two different peoples. Related Topics Russia-Ukraine war Sometimes, we call things boring simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.. He supports the de-Russification, but thinks its radical pace is not always positive. Even I, as a climate journalist, had simply not noticed the plastic coating our lives. The Storm Shadow may set another Western precedent. The situation looks a little different now. Fighting there has killed about 15,000 people on the Ukrainian side, according to Kyiv. In the areas controlled by the Ukrainian government, respondents were asked: In your opinion, what should be the status of the regions of the Donbas temporarily uncontrolled by the Kyiv government? We Vyacheslav Ageyev contributed research and translation assistance in the reporting of this article. The Ukrainian nun took over the bellringing after the border closed and the former bellringer, a Russian, was unable to come to the church anymore. Russian attacks near Bakhmut have abated slightly, according to a spokesperson for the eastern section of Ukraines army. The Russian defence ministry said Ukraine had launched the "large-scale offensive" in the Donetsk region on Sunday using six mechanised and two tank battalions. Gerard Toal, professor in the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Techs campus in Arlington, Va., is the author of Near Abroad: Putin, the West and the Contest for Ukraine and the Caucasus (Oxford University Press, 2017). Larysa (surname withheld) started just a month ago. An abandoned Russian tank in a forest north of Kharkiv, Ukraine, in January. Data are weighted proportional to current population estimations separately in the Kyiv-controlled and separatist areas. The town centre is full of carefree people enjoying the sun in parks and along the banks of the Vezelka River. . A 41-year-old man was killed by falling debris of Russian drones being shot out of the air, as the Kremlin launched a 54-strong drone attack on the Ukrainian capital. No. But ethnic Russians and Russian speakers in Ukraine's east did not automatically support the separatists or want to be part of Russia. Adherence to Russia wasnt determined by the language of communication but by ones political views and the influence of propaganda, and correlated with the level of ones support of pro-Russian parties, the polls authors concluded. The death toll from a Russian missile attack on a medical facility in Dnipro on Friday has risen from two to four people, according to the regions governor. Over breakfast, I outlined our mission: For a week, I said, we were going to shop without buying any plastic. The Kakhovka flood ended it. In total, 4,025 people were interviewed, with equal numbers on both sides of the line of contact dividing the Donbas. It's all the show could talk about. As a result, Russia may draw back some of its air defences, says Ben Barry, a senior fellow for land warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Support for the war remains strong in Russia. A Ukrainian zoo survived through war. On 12 May, Russia accused Ukraine of firing the UK-supplied missile at two industrial sites in the Russian-held city of Luhansk in Eastern Ukraine. What should I do? On February 24, war came to the rest of Ukraine as well. Each of us went their own way, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. The survey was conducted by Baltic Surveys/The Gallup Organization, with field work carried out by Rating Group Ukraine. Sixty-eight percent view the referendum in Crimea as an attempt to break Ukraine apart and as a threat to Ukraines independence, a view held by 40 percent in the east and 48 percent in the south. Speaking to the Voice of America website, he said: We are not talking about [Natos] article 5 until we become members of Nato. Moreover, German citizens with post-Soviet migration backgrounds make a distinction between Putin and Russia as a country, or they otherwise come from countries generally critical of Moscow. From left to right, Liza, Oksana, and Veronika hang out at a cafe in the border town of Milove, Ukraine, Feb. 4, 2022. Whilst the BBC is unable to verify this attack, Ukraine is clearly determined to dislocate Russia's war machine - and Russia's Defence Ministry is now acutely aware that Ukraine is able to pursue longer range attacks. Russian President Vladimir Putin provocatively escalated that conflict right before the latest invasion, declaring in February that Russia would recognize these entities the Donetsk Peoples Republic (DNR) and the Luhansk Peoples Republic (LNR) as independent states, including supporting their claim to all the territory of the Donbas. Russian bells, they say, ring back each Sunday in what remains a cordial conversation. The authors acknowledge funding for this work from the National Science Foundation and from ZOiS (Center for East European and International Studies), Berlin. Russia will be held accountable for attacks carried out on civilian areas, the European Union has said. Dogs are afraid of loud noises, especially when the [Russian] anti-aircraft guns go into action. Majority Support Closer Ties with Europe Ukraine said the latest attack on Kyiv was the most important of the invasion, with more than 40 out of 54 drones targeting the capital. Whats the matter? asks his friend. Even here, most of the products were wrapped in plastic, from the lettuce to the tofu.Mama, what are we going to do about cheese? my little one finally stammered. Nostalgia for the Soviet era does not necessarily imply approval of Russian policy in Ukraine, she points out. When asked what the status of Crimea should be a majority in all regions said it should remain a part of Ukraine in some manner (west 91 percent, center 85 percent, south 57 percent, east 52 percent). It is politicians who have split Russia from Ukraine and Ukraine from Russia.. Though the Ukrainian and Russian languages are closely related, the sociopolitical divide between their speakers couldn't be wider in Ukraine, due to the prejudices and values . Were run by a church, but were not only for church members and were not about converting people. The war in Ukraine is officially in its second month. As J Andrs Gannon, a security expert at the US Council on Foreign Relations, says: "If Russia has to devote more resources to protecting command and logistic hubs or decides to pull them further from the frontlines that will significantly slow forward moving operations.". The Monitor is a peculiar little publication thats hard for the world to figure out. All rights reserved. Viktor Kruglov, 24, who works for an online sales site, says he too wondered about leaving Belgorod because of the repeated bombings. (modern). As the war has gone on, battlefield setbacks have become less shocking to Russians. He uses the illusion of caring about his people here [in Ukraine] for his own personal interest., He is equally critical of the government in Kyiv, calling President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a liar. A handful of Ukrainian artists who moved to Russia and support the war have been blacklisted at home. Warkentin thinks German politicians should take a closer look at surveys and statistical results like this, so that people understand that the post-Soviet community in Germany is a very heterogeneous group, the majority of whom are well-integrated in Western, German-European society. The move along with the COVID-19 pandemic and the war-triggered economic crisis contributed to the financial ruin of many bookshops. Here's what we know. Strong bonds of friendship and kinship have endured. Ukraine live briefing: Ukrainian forces claim advances along front line; Ru Defend every inch of NATO territory? Half of Russian speakers in Germany could imagine demonstrating for an immediate halt to the war, with some 17% prepared to take to the streets in support of Ukraine. You can renew your subscription or When Kuenssberg mentions war crimes, including a maternity hospital being attacked in Mariupol and asks why Kelin wont be honest about what has happened, he replies that the war has been going on since 2014 in the Donbas with crimes being committed on the Ukrainian army side. Writing on Twitter, Nabila Massrali, an EU spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy, said: Russias barbaric attacks continue, killing & terrorising civilians: attack on hospital in #Dnipro, now #Kyiv on dawn of #KyivDay. She says the homeliness of Ukrainian reflects a different mindset. This article was first published on the PRIO blog. They seem not to care whether this heritage helped shape their mentality and cultural DNA. Your subscription to But that loss of support was only for a short time, and the public rallied once more behind the government, according to FilterLabs. See the sources . Only around half as many (9%) said they would demonstrate to supportRussia, and even fewer, 4%,said they would participate in a pro-Putin demonstration. Savchenko also liked it but stopped listening to it in 2014. We tried the no plastic challenge. South Africas president, Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed a panel to investigate US allegations that a Russian ship collected weapons from a naval base near Cape Town last year, the presidency said in a statement. Read more of our recent coverage of the Ukraine crisis. While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. All rights reserved. Majority of Russian-Speaking Citizens in Ukraine Dont Feel Threatened We are used to it, the 34-year-old sales director told AFP. The Storm Shadow cruise missile has a range of over 150 miles - triple the range of the missiles Ukraine has used up to now. FilterLabs has worked with Ukrainian groups to try to measure their ability to influence Russian opinion. Thank you. Meanwhile, the Kremlin ignores the linguistic rights of almost two million ethnic Ukrainians who lived in Russia before Crimeas annexation, forming its second-largest minority. Ukraine will remember that when the UK pledged to send its main battle tank, Challenger 2, the US and European countries followed in supplying Western tanks to Ukraine. The Russian ministry . People in Ukraine say that claim is a hoax. Minority Pledges to Make Trouble on Ukraine Military Aid. We have some testimony now from a Kyiv resident whose home was damaged by the strikes that hit the city overnight. Heres whats at stake. "In this respect, I think that results of this kind can also relax and harmonize coexistence in a migration society.". UK confirms supply of Storm Shadow long-range missiles in Ukraine, accused Ukraine of firing the UK-supplied missile at two industrial sites in the Russian-held city of Luhansk. When asked if they felt Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine were under pressure or threat because of their language, 85 percent of Ukrainians said no. And we learned something. Hawkish senior Republicans aside, there is evidence to suggest that the anti-Ukraine flank of the party is playing not to . The German defence minister said if we stop supplying weapons to Ukraine, it will stop the day after tomorrow, he said and laughs, saying he is right. 2023 International Republican Institute. She researches the dynamics of war, identities, protest and migration and is involved in survey projects in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. We want no threat from Ukraine to Russia, this is one thing, and second that Russians in Ukraine will be treated like all other nations in the world. All this largely echoes our findings in an earlier survey in late 2020. Ukraine claims it has downed 52 of them. Meanwhile, Zelenskyys government has declared a sweeping de-Russification project. Kremlin-aligned news outlets appear to be trying to counteract the growing concern, publishing articles that are more sanguine about the number of Russian casualties, FilterLabs found. But Russia's attack on Ukraine's territory began in 2014. Putin is here today but tomorrow someone else will be in his place. Yet, the leader, whose unprecedented approval ratings surpass 90 percent, has not always championed monolingualism. The week began, as do all good weeks with my children, with an official challenge. Has your opinion on Putin changed? "That would be very important," said Warkentin, "so that the impression is not created that there is a diaspora here that might hold different views on this war and may have a conflict of loyalties. UkraineAlert June 25, 2020 How Russia weaponizes the language issue in Ukraine By Iryna Matviyishyn Filter Results Hide For centuries, Ukraine's long struggle for statehood has been mirrored by the often troubled fate of the Ukrainian language. We have enormous resources and we havent just started yet to act very seriously. It added that the measure was part of attempts to paint the invasion as a success, especially in the run-up to the 2024 presidential elections. For most of the members of her conversation group, the lightbulb moment came later. These residents were twice as likely to say the Donbas should not have any special status as to say it should have special autonomous status within Ukraine. We just shout Oh! and Ah!. We believe news can and should expand a sense of identity and possibility beyond narrow conventional expectations. However, it recently claimed to have hit a Russian military headquarters located deep inside the Southern Eastern region of Zaporizhzhia, at the Port city of Berdiansk. He added that the issue of aid provided by Russian speakers for Ukrainian refugees or aid convoys to Ukrainehad been missing from public debate in Germany last year. She is still indignant about how Ukrainian was stigmatised as a lowly language that only befits villagers in the Soviet era and post-Soviet 1990s. Get stories that empower and uplift daily. Olena Nikulina, a retired teacher, started learning the language only after the invasion in February. The roof of a residential building that was damaged during a Russian drone attack on today in Kyiv, Ukraine. Now I think, well, we live in Ukraine so we should speak Ukrainian., This website uses cookies to Every political effort has been made to make Ukraine and Russia quarrel. Already a subscriber? Some 22% said their image of Russia's president has changed "fairly negatively" in the past 14 months, and nearly twice as many answered "strongly negatively," putting the total percentage at 65%whose opinion of Putin has turned for the worse. If you hate Ukraine, go to Russia.. This is not a natural divide, insists Sergei Ivanovich. you are agreeing to our, In Pictures: At Odd Pet Vet, quirky critters find love and care. They note with pride that their village was the first to be liberated from the Germans by Soviet fighters in World War II. Kherson was among the regions Russia attempted to annex in September by staging referendums that were widely condemned by the UN and others as shams. This is in stark contrast to the 97 percent of voters who supposedly voted in support of the referendum to join Russia. By continuing to browse the site Berlin author and reporter on current politics and society. Although divisions remain between the east and west of Ukraine, 53 percent said they would vote to join the European Union if a referendum were held. No songs or music written or performed by Russians can be played in public which was already perilous because street musicians singing them have frequently been beaten. Your browser does not support the