I do not understand why some hate their country so that much they are ready to eat their Ukrainian passport and swim across the Kerch Strait to live in Russia. Yet they stay, cursing at the powers and nurturing antipathy to the state language of Ukrainian.
When Ukraine’s independence came, I was 5. My parents often took our family to visit relatives in western Ukraine, where since childhood, I still remember the wise words of my grandfather: “Let’s build houses and gather the harvest in Ukraine. We belong to this land.”
My grandfather was born in Volyn Oblast in 1927 in western Ukraine. Despite his advanced age and despite the fact that he is almost blind, he remains the staunchest patriot in our family. But, after a lifetime of drilling oil wells, he is left with only a tiny pension and shaky health for all his hard work for the state.
Remembering the events of 1991, my grandfather and father say that the adoption of independence was the right decision, despite the difficult times that immediately followed.
“There was no order or purpose. In those years, the crisis began because of this, so, for us ordinary people, things turned out not so rosy,” my father says. “All Soviet projects have become a burden. Many of us were left without work.”
Yet, at the same time, he never regretted his support for the changes that led to independent Ukraine. Still, he was also a patriot of the Soviet Union, too.
“They said: Guys, work and the state will take care of you. Do not worry about anything, just work. And, finally, the ideology had worked. We all repeated phrases, such as our address is not a house and not a street, our address is the Soviet Union. And we believed in this. We were pride of our country.”
It was hard, however, to be patriotic to the USSR. My grandfather often recalls relatives who were persecuted during Josef Stalin’s era. In 1938, his uncle was arrested for treason and shot. The same thing happened with his aunt for supporting the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and its military wing, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which fought for the nation’s independence in the first half of the 20th century.
“And there were many in Ukraine, not hundreds but thousands,” grandfather said. “They were real patriots.”
Time passed and my grandfather, on Communist Party orders, was ordered to drill oil wells throughout western Siberia, including one of the major oil fields in Strizhevom near Nizhnevartovsk.
Besides labor, Ukrainians were an integral part of the Soviet Union, including the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. That’s why many take great offense to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s remarks that Russia could have won the war without Ukraine.
It’s clear that patriotism for independent Ukraine could be stronger, to say the least.
Why do so many young people leave Ukraine? Do they think they will have a guaranteed goof life somewhere else? This is often a mistake, because you’re just a guest in another country.
Life in Ukraine lacks stability, security and much more, but this is our home. It’s sad that the notion of patriotism for some of the Ukrainian youth and politicians is mocked.
My grandfather Volodymyr Solovonyuk
is holding great-grandson.
I believe that patriotism does not mean going down to Maydan Nezalezhnosti once a year and cheering. It’s not just embroidered shirts. Patriotism is pride in country. Patriotism is creating cinema, fashion, romance and history that other nations take pride in as well – as the French and Italians have done, for instance. Or it could be the patriotism that Germans in their industriousness – which translates into Europe’s most powerful economy. American-style patriotism is that of a superpower, with influence all over the globe.
What is patriotism for Ukrainians? What do people in the world know about Ukraine? Vitali Klitschko? Andrey Shevchenko? The Chornobyl nuclear power plant? The 2004 Orange Revolution?
What is it for us? Crisis, corruption, a young democracy?
For me, patriotism is sparkle in the eyes when talking about my native land to foreigners. It is the thrill through the boddy when arriving home from overseas. It is restraining tears during the national anthem. It is the desire to live here and create a family here.
No matter what language you speak, the main thing is respect the culture of the country — its history, laws, people, nature.
Patriotism is not dates in history, not a set of ideals and slogans. For me patriotism is the feeling of unity with my country.
Kyiv Post staff writer Nataliya Solovonyuk can be reached at [email protected].
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