Brazilians learn Ukraine’s history from Moscow’s perspective – Sorotiuk

Many people in Brazil do not know the true history of Russia and Ukraine. There are practically no information resources, such as books, about the Ukrainian past, Vitório Sorotiuk, Vice President of the Ukrainian World Congress and President of the Ukrainian-Brazilian Central Representation (UBCR), said in an interview with Ukrainian Radio.

“What history do they know? They know the history that was written in Moscow, in Poland, and in other countries. There is not a single book in Brazil on the history of Ukraine, academic, in any library,” Sorotiuk explained.

Russia conducts an active propaganda policy in Brazil and “acts very quickly,” the President of the UBCR said. “We [Ukraine] are not [conducting an informational campaign] yet,” Sorotiuk noted.

The Ukrainian community is currently working on the distribution of Ukrainian books. “This month we will republish Orest Subtelny’s Ukraine: A History. And we will pass it on to deputies, journalists, libraries, and history faculties in Brazil. … There is already one book by Serhii Plokhy, The Last Empire. A very good book. He translated it into Portuguese. And now I want to talk to Serhii to do the publication in Brazil. I was in Switzerland in a bookstore, and there were 60 books on the history and modern Ukraine. I bought 9 books. And there is none in Brazil,” Sorotiuk said.

During the visit to Kyiv, Vitório Sorotiuk met with Larysa Myronenko, the former head of the Brazilian consulate in Ukraine. Together, they held a meeting dedicated to Ukrainian-Brazilian relations for students of the College of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

Representatives of the Ukrainian community abroad agreed on fruitful cooperation during the meeting with Volodymyr Lavrynenko, vice-rector for international relations from Drahomanov National Pedagogical University.

Together with Volodymyr Serhiichuk, the head of the Department of Global Ukrainian History of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, doctor of historical sciences, professor Vitório Sorotiuk held a joint lecture dedicated to the Ukrainian language in Brazil, and also discussed projects with Brazilian universities to study the Ukrainian language.

Listen to the full interview at the link.