Russian support for Rusyn self determination?

The Rusyn's are the inhabitants of the Subcarpathian Rus a region now known as Zakarpatia in Western Ukraine. It was part of Czechoslovakia before the WWII. According to STRATFOR they are an obscure ethnic group, obscured by the Ukranian state. They strive for self determination and some evidence suggest they are getting moral support from Russia.

Watch this documentary on Russia Today:

And read this report on STRATFOR

Comments

[Eastern and Central European Forum]

Leos

Thanks for featuring this documentary.

I passed it on to a select group with these thoughts:

Among the highlights are:

- a wedding and Sunday morning church services
- the ironic comments of a Ukrainian government official on Rusyn identity (ironic when considering how Ukrainians distinguish themselves from Russians)
- the comments of a Rusyn on how he sees the Rusyns, Ukrainians, Belarusians and Russians, as four related but distinct peoples.

Relative to the above linked documentary, note how the Ukrainian government has supported Crimean Tatar culture.

*****

Thank you for linking my American Chronicle column at the right of your fine site. I'll be a regular visitor.

Best,

Michael Averko

[Leoš Tomíček]

Hi Michael

Thank you for the promotion of my blog. I found it interesting to see an Orthodox priest leading the way, as you have seen me on another forum I have always taken Rusyns to be Greek Catholic but as I see things are more complex on the ground, as always. Only makes me want to find out more.

I think the Ukrainian government supports the Tatars against that population of Crimea more inclined towards Russia. The Rusyns in Zakarpatia have no such strategic importance for the Ukrainian state. This is my impression.

[Eastern and Central European Forum]

Hi back Leos:

Offhand, I'm not sure if the church in the documentary is Greek Catholic or OC. The former has some of the attributes of the latter unlike the Catholic church.

The more nationalist of Ukrainians don't like the Rusyns because they see the latter (by their named identity) as challenging the Ukrainian identity, while giving credence to the view that Russians, Rusyns, Ukrainians and Belarusians are related to each other - but with distinctions. The more extreme of Ukrainian nationalists seek to belittle the similarities.

I appreciate your linking George Bogdanovich's film in a more recent post of yours. American TV tends to have documentaries with the standard Sorosian spin on former Yugoslvavia.

Enjoy your stated break.

Best,

Michael Averko

[Leoš Tomíček]

Hello Michael

I am sorry for the very long delay in my reply. Thank you for some interesting insight on how the Ukrainian state handles its minorities. On the topic of the church, it looks pretty western but I wouldn't say STRATFOR could make a mistake of writing it was Orthodox if it was Greek Catholic. I might be naive but they look too sophisticated for that.

Anyway, I think the Rusyns are related to Ukrainians in some way but having developed aside of most Ukrainian history they are probably quite distinct. Like the Czechs and Slovaks. Slovaks were a part of the Hungarian kingdom and although the two languages are mutually understandable they are not dialects. I remember one Ukrainian person from around Kiev told me that he can't understand people from Zakarpatia, so the distinction might be even greater. But this is not for me to judge because I speak neither Rusyn nor Ukrainian.

Don't worry about American TV not supplying quality movies about the Yugoslav wars, Czech TV is no better. Vaclav Dvorak's film 'Stolen Kosovo' was refused by the Czech TV for allegedly being 'one sided'. I was searching for George Brankovich's film for a long time seeing few snippets on youtube. I don't know if they ever aired it on TV and if so it had an apologetic commentary to it. It is the same situation with books. I mean there are almost no books in Czech but the bulk of what gets translated is anti-Serbian.

Best, Leos