A Visit During Happier Times
With
all the recent problems in Ukraine I do not want to get into politics. My goal
is to share the wonderful time we had in this lovely city before venturing on
to Russia—before Putin regained power. My many Russian readers may or may not
agree with me, but all I can do is relate my personal experiences. Three years
prior to my visit I had breakfast one morning in Winnipeg, Canada with a
Ukrainian business man. He was friendly and talkative and I enjoyed his
company. I remember that he impressed upon me that when referencing Ukraine it
was exactly that---not THE Ukraine or The Canada. I have passed that on many
times, even a couple of times to reporters who were not in the know.
Ukraine, slightly smaller than Texas, is Europe’s second largest country, and the largest country
of what once was the Soviet Bloc. Ukraine was the most populous and
developed republic of the USSR.
Its longest international border is with Russia on the east. Balarus borders
the north. To the west lie Poland
and Slovakia.
The Black and Azor
Seas border the south,
and on the southeast are borders with Hungary, Romania and Moldavia. Besides Ukrainian, other languages spoken
include Russian, Romanian, Polish, and Hungarian.
Russia dominated Ukrainian history for
centuries, but the Ukrainian culture stretches even farther back in history.
The country was the center of the first Slavic state, a powerful nation called
Kievan Rus, which dominated Europe in the 10th and 11th
centuries. Invasions by Tartars and Poles weakened the country throughout
history until 1654 when Ukraine joined the Muscovy.
Ukraine covers less than three percent of
what was the USSR landmass, but its rich black soil produced over a third of
the Soviet food supply while its mines produced 50 percent of Russia’s iron ore
and 25 percent of its coal.
Brief independence for Ukraine followed
the czar’s abdication in 1917. The Bolsheviks began a brutal civil war in Ukraine that
ended with the Soviets taking most of the country and forcing it into the Soviet Union. Eight million people died when the brutal
Soviet rule orchestrated artificial famines in 1921-22 and again in
1932-33.
Stalin made a vicious attack on Ukrainian
culture by exterminating a large part of the intelligentsia. It wasn’t long
afterward when horrific fighting between the Germans and Russians took place on
Ukrainian soil during WW II, killing an additional eight million people. Large
numbers of Russians were encouraged to move to industrial regions of Ukraine and soon
became a sizable minority of 11 million. During communist rule the Soviet Union imposed the Russian culture and language
onto all Ukrainians. But in spite of this the Ukrainian culture, which
stretches far back in history, managed to survive. Even with repression,
suffering, political turmoil, and ecological disasters Ukraine’s spirit and
national identity have never died.
The 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster and
the slow Soviet response embittered Ukrainians. A small nationalist movement,
founded in Kiev
in 1990, contributed to the country’s independence in 1991.
The ancient city (5th century)
of Kiev is known to Russians as the ‘Mother of Cities’, due to its long and
prominent history. A river city as well as the country’s largest city, Kiev
also is the capitol city.
Kiev had established trade routes with
Western Europe and Arabia when Moscow was still a village in the woods. In 988,
during the golden age, Kiev’s
Prince Vladimir gave Orthodox Christianity its Slavic foothold with a mass
baptism in the River Dnieper.
Modern Kiev combines three 9th
century towns: Podol, the lower town closest to River Dnieper, Pecherch, and
Staro Kiev, site of the modern center. Since independence Ukraine has
experienced many traumatic growing pains as a new democracy.
Transportation includes trams, trolleys,
buses and the metro and transfers are allowed from line to line. However, Kiev is not a pedestrian friendly
city. Crossing the street can be hazardous to one’s health and is the best incentive
for using the underground passageways/tunnels to get from one side to the
opposite side of the street.
Old Kiev with its narrow streets and
small shops is the heart of the city. Merchants and craftsmen worked and lived,
often for a lifetime, in the same small area. Kiev is known both as the Garden City and as
a Green City. A large part of the city is park
area. As we got around the city, I
realized that the city of three million people seemed like a small large city.
After the Danube and Volga Rivers, the
Dnieper River is Europe’s third longest river. Flowing through the city of Kiev,
it also flows through Russia, and Belarus
to the Black Sea.
Our local city guide pointed out art nouveau
buildings, Stalin-era buildings that generally had a large star on top, many of
the city’s 80 churches and numerous 11th century well-preserved
buildings. Kiev is both the modern gateway to Ukraine and a historic town that
blends commercial streets with modern byways with its old town. The city is the
place of presidential administration, parliament and government departments.
Actually Kiev is twice as old as Moscow. Spellings of buildings and streets can
be very confusing as there is almost always at least two spellings for any one place
or street.
At
the 170-year-old Red University all the walls and buildings are painted a terra
cotta red. Across the street is a large bronze statue of the famous Ukrainian
poet, Shevchenko. He stands just inside the entrance of a park bearing his name
---an island of greenery in the middle of bustling down city.
The
old city gate, built 1017-24 by Prince Yaroslavl meant to underscore his
country’s power. Under Yaroslavl’s rule the city increased ten-fold. Nomadic
tribes never could penetrate the main gate to the city. During the 16th
and 17th centuries the gate deteriorated and in the 18th
century it was covered with earth. In 1832 archeologists discovered the ruins
and a portion of the gate was restored and protected behind an iron fence.
Kiev’s
main business district, Khreshchatik,
was blocked off for the holiday, so we strolled down the center of the wide
street lined with large old trees and grand monumental buildings interspersed
with small shops. It was a beautiful warm day.
Independence Square, where the Orange Revolution
took place when the presidential elections were so hotly contested, was lovely.
We had a wonder couple days in Kiev, ate some wonderful borsch and enjoyed delightful
weather and the friendly people. I was heartbroken when I heard on the news
that the square was again the site of protest and that much of the paving
stones had been dug up. I feel lucky to have
been a visitor during happier more peaceful times.
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