Ukraine began to be at war with the Russian Federation when it recognized itself as the heir of the Ukrainian People’s Republic
From what moment should we count down Ukrainian statehood and what is the significance of Independence Day on August 24, 1991 for Ukraine. — Ukrainian historians told during the round table “Ukrainian independence and statehood: history and prospects”, which took place in the Army.Inform.
Ihor HyrychIhor Hyrych, doctor of historical sciences, head of the department of the Hrushevsky Institute of Ukrainian Archeography and Source Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine: “Statehood must be conducted from the time when a state entity appears on the territory of Ukraine. And this is not the time of the baptism of Russia, but at least 1000 years earlier. It is necessary to include in the chronology of statehood the Greek colonies in the south of Ukraine, the Scythians, the nomads — all entities that had signs of statehood. Also, we should include the Tripoli culture in our statehood.
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This gives us a basis to affirmatively speak about the thousand-year-old traditional statehood on the territory of Ukraine. And we do not differ from other nations of Europe in this matter, because this is approximately what happens in every nation that talks about the beginning of its statehood.
If we are talking about the proto-Ukrainian statehood, then, of course, this is the time when the Slavs appeared in these territories – the first half of the first millennium of the new era. Mykhailo Hrushevskyi in the chronology from the ancients — VI century. Mykhailo Brychevsky, who led from the first centuries of the new era, when the first people appeared on the territory of Kyiv, believed the same. And the new statehood is the one that has adapted to our times since those times.”
Vladlen Maraev, leading researcher of the Research Center for Humanitarian Issues of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Candidate of Historical Sciences:
“If we talk about the history of statehood on the territory of Ukraine, we have to start with antiquity. But the origins of Ukrainian statehood certainly date back to the times of Russia. The recently introduced holiday — Statehood Day, of course, has a rather conditional character. After all, July 28 is the day of Prince Volodymyr’s death. But Russian statehood with its center in Kyiv arose even earlier — in the 9th century — and this is the starting point for our modern statehood.
The countdown takes on special significance today, after this Russian Federation and the main pseudo-historian V.V. Szlachin insist that this Russia is the origin of the Moscow state. They say that the history of Russia begins with Kyiv. With this, he is trying to create an ideological basis for seizing Ukrainian territories. Therefore, Ukraine must resist these attempts to appropriate our history in every possible way.”
Andriy Kovalev, candidate of political sciences, press officer of the 112th brigade of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine:
“On the eve of July 28, one of the divisions of our 112th brigade of TRO of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is holding the defense in the Kharkiv direction. I was interested to know how our fighters perceive this holiday. We were very moved by the words of one of the boys, who said that it is at the front that you really feel the price of statehood, when you stand in its defense every day.
Only in the 20th century we had Independence Day on January 22, 1918, March 15, 1939 — the declaration of independence of Carpathian Ukraine, June 30, 1941, and, finally, the restoration of Ukrainian statehood on August 24, 1991. Therefore, it is fair that this day should be called the day of restoration of independence, as, for example, in the Baltic countries. And the Day of Statehood calls to unite all these days of independence and emphasize the persistence of our statehood.
I want to remind you about one more, no less important date. On August 22, 1992, the act of transfer of powers from the state center of the Ukrainian People’s Republic in exile was held, represented by President Mykola Plavyuk, the government of Ukraine. Kleynodi was personally received by President Leonid Kravchuk. For President Kravchuk, it was very important politically, since the governments of the United States and Great Britain closely cooperated with the state center of the Ukrainian People’s Republic in exile. besides, this ceremony meant the recognition of the new Ukrainian statehood by the diaspora and the persistence of the tradition from the Ukrainian People’s Republic. But there is another interesting detail: since the 1920s, no peace agreement has been signed between the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic. So, having recognized themselves as the heirs of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, Ukraine began to be at war with Russia. Therefore, it was obvious to all Ukrainian patriots from the beginning of the 1990s that this ongoing war cannot be avoided. Because sooner or later, Russian chauvinism, which was not punished and condemned, would provoke a new hot war.”
Mykhailo Kubliy, candidate of historical sciences, researcher at the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine:
“The history of statehood should be divided into two parts – the history of the state on the territory of Ukraine, which should include antiquity, the Scythian state; as well as the history of Ukrainian statehood itself, which should be conducted in the context of the creation of the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian nation. Modern Ukrainian history and archeology believe that the beginning of the formation of Ukrainians as a separate ethnic group should be attributed to the early Middle Ages. Archaeologist Leonid Zaliznyak claims that the origins of the Ukrainian ethnos can be traced back to the Sklavyns – this is the 6th century. And the formation of statehood is a longer process. And he passed around Kyiv as a powerful economic and political center, which became the center of the Russian state. And it is this state that should be assessed as the first Ukrainian state. The fact that many other peoples existed within Russia, there is no way to mention that this state is Ukrainian. After all, its center was on our territory, the capital was Kyiv, the main cities were Chernihiv, Volodymyr, Halych, Pereyaslav, which are still Ukrainian cities today.
The form of the state can constantly change, but the state continues to exist. There was Kievan Rus, then the Galicia-Volyn Principality or the Kingdom of Rus, the Lithuanian-Russian State… But the persistence of the idea of Ukrainian statehood and its sovereignty at different times took different forms and had different meanings. In the Lithuanian period, this is manifested in the fact that princes of Ostrozki, Vyshnevetski, etc. ruled the places. They passed the baton of Ukrainian statehood to the Cossacks. And from the Cossacks and Haydamaks, it passed to the period of creation of modern Ukraine, which falls on the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th century.
In addition to the fact that our lands were divided between world empires over the centuries, they did not lose the chain of state formation, the desire to have their own state. Ukrainians communicated closely between these empires, were aware of their national, linguistic, and cultural unity. And the beginning of the 20th century only confirmed this.”
Video Evgeny Tristan