Ukrainians were conditioned to think of themselves as constantly defeated, says historian Oleksandr Alf’orov

Ukrainians’ ancestors were mobilized to fight back to achieve national self-determination, affirmed Oleksandr Alf’orov, the Ukrainian historian and Armed Forces of Ukraine officer, during a lecture entitled: “The Battle for Independence: The History of Ukrainian Statehood”. The important talk was organized by the Ukrainian World Congress in honor of Ukraine’s 33rd anniversary of restored independence.

“However, someone very, very unpleasant has shaped our view of our nation’s history as a tragedy, as serfdom, as constant trauma, as perpetual defeat. But, friends, what is the largest country in Europe? It is Ukraine. If everyone had insulted us, we would be the size of Monaco, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg. Why do we have this phenomenon where we are told we are constantly losing, yet we are the largest European country?” Alf’orov said.

“Unfortunately, our history has been shaped not so much by historical events as by geography. To the east of us advances another civilization – the Asian one, and to the south – the Islamic civilization. And this great steppe, which is in our thoughts, which lives in our minds, the Steppe Ukraine… Few people understand that this was what Ivan Mazepa, our Ukrainian hetman, who wrote songs and poems, sang about in his song: ‘Oh, woe to that gull in the sky that built its nest on the beaten road.’”

The steppe, which begins in the area of modern-day China, stretches through Mongolia and extends into Ukraine, constantly brought us enemies carrying different civilizations. “This happened thousands and thousands of years before our era. And this enemy brought us a constant inevitability of struggle with others. And this steppe shaped our ancestors. The constant threat and the perpetual impossibility of negotiating with the carriers of another civilization, other values,” he evinced.

Ukraine is a European state because Ukrainians are carriers of European values. To learn why the ‘Russkiy Mir’ ideology is very flexible, why Ukrainian princes were not allowed to be called Ukrainian, and about the history of Ukrainian statehood, listen at the link.