There is a fashion for Ukraine in Russia

This statement was made by the pro-rector of the Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH), the vice-president of the Russian Association of Ukraine-Researchers Dmytro BAK, reports UNIAN’s correspondent in Russia. “It is important for Ukrainian culture to become popular among the young generation, and we see the sprouts of this movement, as there is a peculiar fashion for Ukraine, for its language, rock music and lifestyle. Young people often go to Kyiv on the weekend — not just to St. Petersburg. This should be developed,” said Bak. He has noted that the RSUH had taken a “Ukrainian initiative,” which has several dimensions. In his opinion, the most important question is education, which can become one of the bases for mutual understanding between our countries. “This year the RSUH has admitted students to a Russian-Ukrainian program. The question does not only concern the citizens of Ukraine receiving a Russian education or vice versa. We have opened a special Russian-Ukrainian profile to prepare specialists in cultural interaction between the two countries,” he said. Bak also informed that the RSUH is ready to proceed on organizing a common master’s degree programs in Ukrainian and Russian Studies. He noted that the RSUH is considering the idea of conducting Ukrainian-language competitions, in which representatives of the diaspora and students that study Ukrainian in Russian universities can take part. Among the proposals that the RSUH has addressed to Ukrainian scientific and educational community there are the following ones: developing and publishing a quarterly historical and cultural journal; setting up an annual Ukrainian-Russian prize, to be awarded to representatives of the Russian and Ukrainian scientific community and culture sphere for contributing to the development of Russian and Ukrainian research and strengthening Russian-Ukrainian relations; organizing an annual scientific forum “Russian-Ukrainian readings” under the auspices of the Russian Association of Ukraine-Researchers, and organizing the work of a yearly Russian-Ukrainian school under the forum.