Proud of the Ukrainians…

I have been listening to multiple NPR broadcasts and seeing on Google news tons of bits about the upheaval in the recent Ukrainian Elections. I can say I am proud of them (well some of them) for standing up to what were obviously unfair elections. When I was working in Moldova (Yes, I know Ukrainians aren’t Moldovans but there are similarities) I was usually quite frustrated with politics there (the younger generations are working at it a bit but are far and away the minority, and still have a long way to go) and the political naivety and/or apathy. To see Ukrainians stand up to Russia is almost refreshing, not because I hate the Russians (well, I’m not fond of the government but love the people) but because many of the former Soviet republics are willing puppets of the Kremlin; not too much unlike many countries being puppets to Bush (notice I say “Bush” and not the “US”; I hate the shmoe) in a way they don’t have a choice but in a way they do. It boils down to “be yourself”. I know there have been demonstrations in support of the existing government (which has worked very closely with the Kremlin) but notice many of those are close to the boarder and where there are large concentrations of Russians, which makes total sense. In my experience Russians are fiercely proud people, I met many in Moldova who lived there their whole life but didn’t speak Romanian (the national language), not wanting to taint their “Russian-ness”, appalled me but also made me admire them a bit more…

Regardless, Ukraine, along with just about any other country, need to be its own country and not the puppet of some larger power.