Ukrainians know that a house divided against itself cannot stand

Putin the Unifier

by Hannah Thoburn

There’s nothing like an invasion to bring a country together. Ask any Ukrainian on any street and they’ll tell you the same thing, almost thankfully: Vladimir Putin has united Ukraine like never before. His actions in eastern Ukraine have proven a kind of catalyst that have forged a nation out of a group of people that once squabbled incessantly about politics, language rights, and tax dollars.

Southern Ukrainians who once sighed in exasperation at the “nationalists from the west” of Ukraine (as the common saying went) are now excited about the election to Parliament of a new, youthful, pro-European party, Self-Reliance, which hails from that region. Perhaps, one woman told me, they can teach us how to begin to “live in the European way.” Some in customarily Russian-speaking areas have taken to purposefully speaking Ukrainian so as to not perpetuate Russian soft power.

Other signs of Ukraine’s newfound unity are more visible. On Kyiv’s Maidan (Independence Square) the Trade Union building that was burned out in February’s fighting is covered with a giant banner that reads “Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Heroes!” Each of the country’s television channels keeps a small graphic in an upper corner of the screen—a Ukrainian flag with the words “A United Country” written below. The phrase changes every several seconds from Russian language to Ukrainian and back again.

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