Comments by "Stephen Hill" (@stephenhill545) on "Author says he noticed something 'bizarre' about Russian people during recent trip" video.

Civic identity is much more important in ukraine than ethno-linguistic identity. Putin didn't seem to know that. Now he does.
7
Backing down when putin threatens to go nuclear would be a terrible mistake. Putin and north Korea would know that they could do anything they want to, and every despotic regime in the world would try to get hold of nuclear weapons. We have to face putin down. There is no choice. .
4
@ivan162 the research on your country says that citizenship is the key to ukranian identity, not language. When this war is over you would be wise to remember that. The great majority of your Russian soeakers are patriotic Ukranians bravely defending and enduring for an independent Ukraine. Slava Ukrainya!
4
@ivan162 wrong. Zhelenski is a Russian speaker. You should learn something about civic nationalism, because that is what Zhelenski is trying to create in ukraine, rather than Putin's nationalism which is ethno-linguistic. That's why Putin thought that the citizens of Kharkiv would welcome the russian army with bread and salt, but got bullets instead. Russian speaking kharkiv is full of ukranian citizens who are as ukranian as ukranian speaking you.
3
Ukraine is typified by civic identity, like Canada. Language/ethnicity plays less of a role there than in Russia. This is one reason why Putin misjudged the reaction of Ukranian citizens to the invasion. Research on southeastern ukraine shows that less than 10% identify as, Russian.
2
Civic identity and ethno-linguistic identity are two different things. Zhelenski stands for the first, and putin the second. This was putin's biggest mistake. He failed to understand that ukranian russian speakers mostly feel ukranian. And so his army was not welcomed in kharkiv etc
2
@ronaldl9085 they shouldn't be. Zhekebski's big idea is that you are ukranian by citizenship, not by language and ethnicity. This is why, he, a russian speaking jew, wears a t-shirt saying "I am a ukranian". Civic identity is now the majority identity in eastern ukraine too. Zhekebski's biggest achievement maybe.
2
@ivan162 patriotism is caring about making your country a better happier place to live un, not going around excluding people because they don't look like, sound like, or think like you. If you're one of those types who wraps themselves in the flag and tells people they don't belong then russia Mia is the place for you.
2
@sebsoud understandable, but it's okay to speak a minority language. They needn't be ashamed. Ukraine is a multilingual society. It wants to be in the EU, so it needs to embrace its diversity.
1
@karlvonbahnhof6594 civic identity it's called. Much healthier than ethno-linguistic identity.
1
@karlvonbahnhof6594 it's true. A shameful chapter in the history of my country, the UK. We should have gone to war. Sorry.
1
@mikecaetano they live in the past. It's a bit weird.
1
@@user-dp1ni6wd4m do you understand your history? The Russians I've met have learnt a very selective history. A Russian friend told me that the archives were closed till 1991 on the secret protocol of the nazi-soviet pact, and most Russians don't know that ukraine voted for independence with a big majority in 1991 too, including crimea and Donbas.
1
@nenadmitrovic that is not true. Only 3.5 % of ukranians identify as Russian (2019).
1
@@user-dp1ni6wd4m you Russians don't have the courage to get rid of putin.
1
@CHINESE_PRIDE there was a depression in Europe in the 1930s. Defense spending was cut.
1
@ivan162 you are talking BS. If you really want to be part of the EU, you have to accept people with different languages, ethnicities and sexual orientation. Europe is Liberal democratic culture. There is no place for your bigotry in the EU. We have enough problems with Hungary already because of that shit. Zhelenski is a Jewish Russian speaker. He is as ukranian as you.
1