One of the fundamental myths of the Soviet propaganda was that of the brotherhood of the Russian and Ukrainian peoples. It replaced the concept of the "trinity of the Russian people" — the official doctrine of the Russian Empire, according to which, the Russian nation consisted of three components — Great Russians, Little Russians and White Russians.
Russia's "hybrid war" against Ukraine shattered the very idea of such "brotherhood". It is not for nothing that soon after its beginning, the poem written in Russian by the Ukrainian poetess Anastasia Dmytruk "We shall never be brothers" had a wide public echo both in Ukraine and in Russia. Noteworthy, the words "Russia" and "Russians" are never used in the text of the poem, but from the context, readers both in Ukraine and in Russia understand that it is about the relations between Ukrainians and Russians.
It is interesting to note that the Soviet myth of the brotherhood of the Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian peoples was even earlier questioned by specialists of the Russian Institute of the CIS countries (an organization whose main tasks include, as stated on the website of its head K. Zatulin, "scientific-analytical and socio-political support of the foreign policy activities of the Russian Federation". In the collective monograph released by this institute in 2012, "Linguistic equality in Ukraine: problems and opportunities", its authors wrote:
"Soviet historiography carried out all the preparatory work, having taken the Russian name from the Belarusians and Ukrainians (Little Russians), and leaving it to the Great Russians only. The myth of the three fraternal nations, established during the Soviet period of history, concealed the main truth that this is one nation — Russian, whose nationality was replaced by the geographical names of the territory of residence: Ukraine — Ukrainians, Belarus — Belarusians, Russia — Russians".
This thesis was picked up by Russian President Putin. In his "programme" article "About the historical unity of Russians and Ukrainians", which actually became the "theoretical justification" for the full-scale war against Ukraine that began a little more than six months later, he declared that there was no historical basis for the notion of a Ukrainian nation separate from Russian, and the separation of Ukrainians and Belarusians as separate nations was the result of Soviet national policy:
"It was the Soviet national policy — instead of the great Russian nation, a triune nation consisting of Great Russians, Little Russians and White Russians — that established at the state level the position of three separate Slavic peoples: Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian."
If we cite historical analogies, then the thesis that Austrians and Germans are one people served at one time for Adolf Hitler to justify the "Anschluss" of Austria and Germany. Similarly, the German National Socialists considered the Scandinavian peoples (Norwegians, Swedes and Danes) to be an offshoot of the single Germanic people. Therefore, for example, those Norwegians who did not agree with this and fought against the German occupiers in the units of the Resistance Movement were called Norwegian nationalists by the Nazis. And those Norwegians who enrolled in the ranks of such formations as the SS division "Wiking" were revered as true German patriots.
If in Russia the rejection of the idea of "brotherhood" occurred as a denial of the existence of the Ukrainian and Belarusian peoples, in Ukraine, as evidenced by the results of a poll conducted by the Razumkov Centre Sociological Service, the public opinion was more inclined to believe that Ukrainians and Russians have little in common. During these polls, respondents were asked to make a choice from three judgments: "Ukrainians and Russians have always been and remain fraternal nations", "Ukrainians and Russians used to be fraternal nations, but they are no longer such", and "Ukrainians and Russians have never been fraternal nations."
Even in 2017 (that is, after the occupation of Crimea and part of Donbas), about a quarter (27%) of those polled still agreed with the first statement ("Ukrainians and Russians have always been and remain fraternal nations"). However, in 2023 it was shared by only 4% of respondents. The share of those who believe that Ukrainians and Russians used to be fraternal peoples, but no longer are, has not changed statistically since 2017 (50% and 48%, respectively), but the share of those who hold the opinion that Ukrainians and Russians have never been fraternal nations rose dramatically (from 16% to 43%).
Especially noticeable changes compared to 2017 took place in the Eastern and Southern regions. While in 2017, 52% of residents of the East believed that "Ukrainians and Russians have always been and remain fraternal nations", in 2023, this opinion was shared by only 10% there. In the Southern regions, the share of those who thought so has decreased from 45% to 3%. In the West of the country, their share decreased from 11% to 1.5%, in the Centre — from 17% to 3%.
In the Eastern and Southern regions, the majority of citizens now believe that Ukrainians and Russians used to be fraternal nations, but they are no longer such (53% and 72.5%, respectively). In the Central regions, this opinion is shared by a relative majority (48%), a bit fewer believe that Ukrainians and Russians have never been fraternal nations (43%). In the Western regions in 2017, a relative majority (43%) believed that Ukrainians and Russians used to be fraternal nations, but they are not now. Now the majority (61.5%) of the residents of these regions believes that Ukrainians and Russians have never been fraternal nations.
While among the representatives of the older (50 and over) age group, the majority (54%) shares the opinion that Ukrainians and Russians used to be fraternal nations, but are no longer like that, in the younger age group (from 18 to 35 years) the majority ( 54%) believes that they were never fraternal nations.
Among ethnic Ukrainians, 3% consider Ukrainians and Russians to be fraternal nations, among ethnic Russian citizens of Ukraine — 17%. Accordingly, 47% and 52% believe that Ukrainians and Russians used to be fraternal nations, but no longer are, 44.5% and 26% — that Ukrainians and Russians have never been fraternal nations. Therefore, among ethnic Russian citizens of Ukraine, the vast majority (78%) do not see Ukrainians and Russians as fraternal nations. And judging by the fact that 72% of Russian citizens of Ukraine associate Russia primarily with aggression, and 74% — with cruelty and dictatorship, it becomes obvious that by rejecting the idea of the "Russian-Ukrainian brotherhood", they distance themselves not from Ukrainians, but from those Russians on the other side of the border who support Putin's policies.
The article presents the results of a public opinion poll conducted by the Razumkov Centre Sociological Service on May 23 — 31, 2023 as part of the MATRA Program project, financed by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine. Assessments and conclusions of the survey authors should not be seen as the official position of the Embassy.
The face-to-face poll was conducted in Vinnytsia, Volyn, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Transcarpathian, Zaporizhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Lviv, Mykolayiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi regions and the city of Kyiv (in Zaporizhia, Mykolayiv, Kharkiv, Kherson regions — only in the territories controlled by the government of Ukraine and free of hostilities).
The sample structure reproduces the demographic structure of the adult population of the territories where the poll was conducted as of the beginning of 2022 (by age, sex, settlement type).
2020 respondents over the age of 18 were polled. The sample theoretical error does not exceed 2.3%. At the same time, additional systematic deviations of the sample may be caused by the consequences of the Russian aggression, in particular, forced evacuation of millions of citizens.
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