“It’s important that Ukrainians in Russia see and hear Kyiv”

The recent abolition of the Federal National Cultural Autonomy of Ukrainians in Russia coincided with the visit of Volodymyr DOROSHENKO to The Day’s office. Doroshenko leads the Ukrainian Diaspora organization in the Republic of Bashkortostan and the Kobzar Republican National Cultural Center. Born in Rivne oblast, he has been living and working in the capital of Bashkortostan, Ufa, for forty years now.

That the cultural and national rights of Ukrainians in Russia are not properly secured by the state (especially when contrasted with the situation of the Ukrainian Diaspora in Western countries) is common knowledge. Nevertheless, Doroshenko’s visit to The Day is an opportunity to discuss the acute problems with someone who knows the system from inside. Doroshenko told us about the assimilation policy in Russia and the total absence of Ukrainian-speaking media from the viewpoint of a “Russian Ukrainian.” He also shared details about the lives of the 55,000 Ukrainians living in the multiethnic Bashkortostan, which has a population of four million.

“The first settlers from Cherkasy region came to Bashkortostan 375 years ago, but the large-scaled emigration dates back to the Stolypin reform. There are still settlements in Bashkortostan that were founded in those times. Some villages (Stepanivka, Zolotonozhka, Sanzharivka, Kazanka, and Sharivka) have marked their centennials.

“Another big wave of emigration took place during the Second World War. Many enterprises were evacuated from Ukraine to Ufa, as was the writers union. By the way, next year we will mark the 65th anniversary of the evacuation. We want to explore these materials. The local intellectuals had close contacts with Pavlo Tychyna; two other poets, Maksym Rylsky and Petro Panch, also lived there for some time.

“Bashkortostan is perhaps the only republic in Russia which can boast of a relatively decent attitude towards national minorities. Bashkortostan may be the only place where, alongside Russian-speaking schools, there are Tatar, Chuvash, and Mari ones. There are no Ukrainian-speaking schools, but we have seven schools where Ukrainian is taught as part of the curriculum: four comprehensive schools and three Sunday ones. Mind you, these are municipal schools with full faculty.

“Our republic can boast of a certain ‘exclusive’ feature in its ethnic policy: each ethnicity has its own historical cultural center. These centers are typically situated in the regions of compact residence. The Kobzar Ukrainian Republican National Cultural Center is situated in the village of Zolotonozhka, where the only school in Russia where all pupils learn Ukrainian is located.

“Yet despite the relatively ‘mild’ ethnic climate in the republic, the number of Ukrainian villages is ever decreasing. There used to be entire enclaves of Ukrainian villages. Now there are about ten of them left which can be classified as strongholds of Ukrainian culture. The reason is the rapid assimilation, both objective and subjective. For some obscure reason, Ukrainian villages were classified as ‘unviable’ and thus annexed to Bashkir and Tatar villages.”

It is common knowledge that the cultural rights of Ukrainians in Russia are not properly secured. Yet, being a “Russian Ukrainian,” could you compare the situation of Ukrainians as a national minority in Russia, and Russians in Ukraine?

“As I have just said, the state policy is aimed at the assimilation of ethnic minorities. In Bashkortostan the situation is one of the best, despite all the problems. I feel for many other Ukrainian regional organizations in Russia. If Ukrainians in Russia had at least one percent of what Russians have in Ukraine, the situation would have been quite different. First of all, it is important that Ukrainians in Russia can see and hear Kyiv. That would be a huge spiritual support for us.

“When the staff of the Kobzar National Cultural Center comes to a village and starts talking Ukrainian there, the village comes alive. The older generation still has a fairly good command of their mother tongue. Our schoolchildren take part in Petro Jacyk contest. I’m now taking some 50 diplomas for 2009 to them. Yet it is no easy matter to work with the young. The main activity is based in schools. But the fact that we have no Ukrainian press, radio, and television is certainly a major negative factor.”

Are the Ukrainians of Bashkortostan interested in the events taking place in Ukraine?

“Of course they are. And they take them to heart. For example, in 2004 we too had an upsurge. I must say that Russian mass media are not really generous with information on Ukraine. If we do get anything, it will be negative.”

And how do you get more objective information?

“Via the Internet. Then we get it to those who have no access. But it is certainly not enough. Also, each summer a group of children from Bashkortostan goes to an international summer camp organized by the Lviv oblast department of education. We have extremely little information about western Ukraine, and whatever we get is totally negative. So the children come home with an absolutely different worldview after they have seen the real thing. The situation in the republic could be altered if we had normal access to Ukrainian mass media, television in particular. But the current Russian policy in the sphere of ethnic minorities is no mere coincidence.

“Public access to Ukrainian mass media on state level is unacceptable for Moscow. The advantages that we can enjoy in Bashkortostan are not owing to Moscow’s policy, but despite it. Even the Assembly of the Peoples of Russia is an absolutely fictitious institution.”

Given the relatively favorable cultural atmosphere in Bashkortostan, what does the Kobzar National Cultural Center do?

“The Center is an organization representing all Ukrainians of Bashkortostan. It is the basis for both Ukrainian and local cultural events. For example, there recently was a festival in Bashkortostan called shynzhere (rodovid, or ‘family tree,’ in Ukrainian). There are Ukrainian families who can trace their genealogies generations back. At this festival they present their family histories. One Ukrainian’s family tree took up 16 square meters.

“We organize Ukrainian culture festivals in Bashkortostan. There are six folk vocal bands who sing traditional Ukrainian songs. The older generation of Ukrainians is very interesting, but unfortunately, we are losing them. They are very active and full of initiatives. For instance, the Kobzar Choir and the band Chervona Kalyna from Sanzharivka toured Poltava oblast with concerts. That’s where their ancestors come from.

“Every two years, our Center holds a Russia-wide seminar on Ukrainian themes, to which we invite professors from Kyiv, Lviv, Nizhyn, Kherson, and Chernihiv. On February 26 we held the Sixth Congress of Ukrainians of Bashkortostan, which was attended by the poet Dmytro Pavlychko and Iryna Kliuchkovska, director of the International Institute for Education, Culture, and Contacts with the Diaspora at the Lviv Polytechnic National University.”

Do the Ukrainian communities from various cities and federal republics keep in touch?

“The leaders of regional communities are members of the Board of the Association of Ukrainians of Russia. However, recently the Ukrainian movement split. After the passing of the law on ethnic minorities, it was suggested that all regional centers register as federal ethnic cultural autonomies. They were supposed to be financed from the state budget, but that never happened. Some Ukrainian centers registered as federal ethnic cultural autonomies (we did not). As you know, recently the Supreme Court of Russia abolished the federal ethnic cultural autonomy of Ukrainians. Only the Association of Ukrainians in Russia has survived, but we have no leader. Therefore, the Ukrainian movement in Russia is totally broken up.”

Your visit to Ukraine coincided with the Memorial Week, when Ukrainians traditionally commemorate the victims of man-made famines and repressions. Do the Ukrainians of Bashkortostan remember these tragic events?

“The 75th anniversary of the Holodomor was marked with a worldwide action ‘Inextinguishable Candle.’ We, too, were going to participate, but Russia refused to take part in the event on a state level. We were also advised (to put it mildly) to refrain from holding the event. I only went to Kazakhstan to get the candle, because the city of Orenburg had flatly refused to take part in passing the candle, which was supposed to go from Kazakhstan to Russia.

“That is, all the stages of the action were ready, but everything was canceled at the last moment because the state was against the action. But since we had been getting ready to participate, we presented a part of the program at a seminar on the improvement of teaching Ukrainian studies, in which our guests from Ukraine took part. Next morning there was a real commotion, telephone calls, and the like. Of course, in our circles we commemorate and discuss these events, but in Russia it is virtually impossible to hold a large-scale action to honor the victims of the Holodomor.”

P.S. Larysa Ivshyna, The Day’s editor-in-chief, presented the Kobzar National Cultural Center with books from The Day’s Library series: Ukraina Incognita, Two Rus’es, Your Dead Chose Me, and The Photo Album, representing all photo exhibits held by The Day. Thus our editorial board can somehow help the Ukrainians of Bashkortostan learn more about their homeland.