In response to the comment, when did Ukraine become a thing? I started going to Russia in 1992 when the Soviet Union broke up. A friend and I did a tour of Eastern Europe in 1990, going from Belgrade to Budapest, then Vienna, Prague, and finally East Germany. We wanted to see it before it changed. I did the same thing when I went to Russia for the first time. I met some friends in Moscow, and then returned to Russia in 1993, traveling first to St. Petersburg, then taking the train from Moscow to Simferopol before driving to Yalta with friends. We had a week on the seashore going along to coast to various places to see the sights. This was the time of Couponi, the Ukrainian currency before Griven. There were three prices in Crimea, one for Ukrainians, one for Russians, and one for foreigners. I was told that it was exactly like it was during the Soviet period.
In the following years, I kept coming back again and again. When I went home, I was met with comments like, oh, you're back from Russia. I said, no, I am not living in Russia. I'm living in Ukraine. Well, where is that? Nobody knew where Ukraine was located and I used to explain; it's east of Europe, south of Russia, and north of Turkey and the Black Sea.
Everything was peaceful and bucolic, no danger for me, and I lived in St. Petersburg, Yaroslavl, Rybinsk, and Petrozavodks, before finally moving to Kyiv. I recall going to Kyiv for the first time and staying in Hotel Ukraine right on Maidan. We had a room at the top of the hotel and it turned out that our first night there was the celebration of the day of the city. There was a fireworks display outside out window and Maidan was filled with people celebrating the day of Kyiv. That was 2004 and I talked to friends about the up coming election. They expected some trick from Kuchma to get Yanukovich elected President. The talk was that Kuchma and Yanukovich would pull the same trick as Putin and Yeltsin, with Kuchma resigning before the election so that Yanukovich would get himself elected. Then, the Orange Revolution happened, and I returned to Kyiv enthused that finally the Soviets has been over thrown and peace had come to Ukraine.
The country was filled with people excited by the Orange Revolution, Everyone told me their story of how they came to the Square and stood in the snow and changed Ukrainian history. I heard many many stories, but I said, you can't stand in the snow for six weeks and change a country. There have been four Presidential elections since then, each time Ukrainians expressing their displeasure with the previous president.
Now, the entire country has one purpose: to throw out Putin and to earn the freedom that Ukrainian people have wanted since they voted to leave the Soviet Union thirty years ago. Now, at least, most of the world recognizes Ukraine and it has become a "thing." The Ukrainians have been trying to shed the Russian yoke for three hundred years, and perhaps they will finally throw off the Russians and get their freedom. I certainly hope so. My daughter is Ukrainian, and she wants to live in a free country not under the thumb of Vladimir Putin. I am doing my small part to help my daughter's Ukrainian family and all my Ukrainian friends to escape the tyranny and repression of the last 300 years. It's about time.
In response to the comment, when did Ukraine become a thing? I started going to Russia in 1992 when the Soviet Union broke up. A friend and I did a tour of Eastern Europe in 1990, going from Belgrade to Budapest, then Vienna, Prague, and finally East Germany. We wanted to see it before it changed. I did the same thing when I went to Russia for the first time. I met some friends in Moscow, and then returned to Russia in 1993, traveling first to St. Petersburg, then taking the train from Moscow to Simferopol before driving to Yalta with friends. We had a week on the seashore going along to coast to various places to see the sights. This was the time of Couponi, the Ukrainian currency before Griven. There were three prices in Crimea, one for Ukrainians, one for Russians, and one for foreigners. I was told that it was exactly like it was during the Soviet period.
In the following years, I kept coming back again and again. When I went home, I was met with comments like, oh, you're back from Russia. I said, no, I am not living in Russia. I'm living in Ukraine. Well, where is that? Nobody knew where Ukraine was located and I used to explain; it's east of Europe, south of Russia, and north of Turkey and the Black Sea.
Everything was peaceful and bucolic, no danger for me, and I lived in St. Petersburg, Yaroslavl, Rybinsk, and Petrozavodks, before finally moving to Kyiv. I recall going to Kyiv for the first time and staying in Hotel Ukraine right on Maidan. We had a room at the top of the hotel and it turned out that our first night there was the celebration of the day of the city. There was a fireworks display outside out window and Maidan was filled with people celebrating the day of Kyiv. That was 2004 and I talked to friends about the up coming election. They expected some trick from Kuchma to get Yanukovich elected President. The talk was that Kuchma and Yanukovich would pull the same trick as Putin and Yeltsin, with Kuchma resigning before the election so that Yanukovich would get himself elected. Then, the Orange Revolution happened, and I returned to Kyiv enthused that finally the Soviets has been over thrown and peace had come to Ukraine.
The country was filled with people excited by the Orange Revolution, Everyone told me their story of how they came to the Square and stood in the snow and changed Ukrainian history. I heard many many stories, but I said, you can't stand in the snow for six weeks and change a country. There have been four Presidential elections since then, each time Ukrainians expressing their displeasure with the previous president.
Now, the entire country has one purpose: to throw out Putin and to earn the freedom that Ukrainian people have wanted since they voted to leave the Soviet Union thirty years ago. Now, at least, most of the world recognizes Ukraine and it has become a "thing." The Ukrainians have been trying to shed the Russian yoke for three hundred years, and perhaps they will finally throw off the Russians and get their freedom. I certainly hope so. My daughter is Ukrainian, and she wants to live in a free country not under the thumb of Vladimir Putin. I am doing my small part to help my daughter's Ukrainian family and all my Ukrainian friends to escape the tyranny and repression of the last 300 years. It's about time.