All about Ukraine. Questions and answers

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Last week, I promised to start this thread, where I will answer your questions, debunk myths and write posts about Ukraine and Ukrainian culture. It's time to do it

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I promised David Hume that he would be the first person I would answer here. So I'm happy to do it.

Please read!
Skip

Thanks for sharing this sad yet important info. I have a few questions.

I am very interested in history and culture. I hope small cultures to survive and not been fully assimilated by the dominant ones. From my knowledge, Belarusian is closer to Ukrainian than Russian in terms of language and culture. But unfortunately, it seems Belarusians are ok with being Russified. Currently most of the people over there speak Russian as mother tongue. It seems unavoidable that they will be completely Russfied in a generation or two. This is vastly different from Ukraine. Do you know why is that the case? How strong is the national identity in Belarus?

For Ukraine, I heard there is a deep national divide. The western part, especially Galicia, was strongly influenced by Poland and Austrian Empire, and strongly against Russification, while the east is less so. What about the ethnic Ukrainians in the eastern part, who survive the Soviet holocaust and Russification?

I know Ukraine is currently going through de-russification. But in the worst case scenario, say US did not defend nor provide enough support, and Putin conquered Ukraine. He is likely to re-russify Ukraine, like promoting Russian as official language again. Do you think the eastern Ukraine could survive that, or (unfortunately) become another Belarus?

And if the current situation continues, or the broke-away forces continue with effective autonomy. Do you think they will be russified like Belarus?

Here are the answers

The situation with Russification in Belarus differs significantly from the situation with russification in Ukraine for many reasons, but I would like to single out 3 main ones. Yes, indeed, Belarusian culture and language are closer to Ukrainian than to Russian, but at the same time, Russian language and culture are closer to Belarusian than to Ukrainian. This is the first reason. The second reason is that at the time of the main repressions of Ukrainians and persecution of Ukrainian culture, not all the territory inhabited by ethnic Ukrainians was under the control of the USSR, unlike the Belarusian ethnic territories. Western Ukraine has become a bastion of the Ukrainian language and culture. Having managed to preserve the language and culture, after the cessation of persecution and Soviet repression, people began to speak Ukrainian again and began to remember traditions and customs. Finally, the third reason actually has a name. And this name is Alexander Lukashenko. He himself does not know Belarusian, and during his reign did his best to destroy the Belarusian language and culture (for example, the Belarusian language is taught in most schools only 1-2 per week, while all subjects are taught in Russian).

As for ethnic Ukrainians in the East, the very notion of ethnic Ukrainians is important here. In fact, many in the East are pro-Russian or non-pro-Ukrainian. But most of these people are ethnic Russians, descendants of Russians who were settled by Stalin on empty lands after the Holodomor. There are many Russian-speaking Ukrainians in the East due to centuries of Russification, but many of them are patriots. Personally, I have many acquaintances from the eastern regions of Ukraine who spoke Russian all their lives, but after 2014 decided to speak Ukrainian so that Putin would not try to "protect" them.

As for Russia's occupation of eastern Ukraine, it all depends on the duration of it. If it lasts up to 30-40 years, I am sure that the Ukrainian language and culture in the East will still survive. And if it lasts longer than 30-40 years, then this part of Ukraine will probably repeat the fate of Belarus (and only obsessive Ukrainization will be able to fix it).

If the current situation continues, it is very likely that the Ukrainian language will slowly but surely prevail. At the same time, the occupied parts of Donbass in 3-4 years will be lost almost forever (for the next 50 years for sure) for Ukraine, as children are brought up there in the spirit of hatred for Ukraine and all things Ukrainian. I can say something else about Crimea, where there are more and more pro-Ukrainian people every day.

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Well we have a Ukrainian megathread.

How do I best prepare lard from a pig?

PSOL, thanks for the fun question, I appreciate it.

First of all, you need to slaughter a pig. Then separate the lard from the meat. The recipe is ready.

The most delicious is fresh lard with Ukrainian black bread and garlic. Also, one of my mother's specialties is baked potatoes with lard. You just need to make an incision in the potatoes, put there a piece of lard and a little onion and put in the oven. It is very tasty.

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Well we have a Ukrainian megathread.

How do I best prepare lard from a pig?

PSOL, thanks for the fun question, I appreciate it.

First of all, you need to slaughter a pig. Then separate the lard from the meat. The recipe is ready.

The most delicious is fresh lard with Ukrainian black bread and garlic. Also, one of my mother's specialties is baked potatoes with lard. You just need to make an incision in the potatoes, put there a piece of lard and a little onion and put in the oven. It is very tasty.

Huh, you eat Salo raw?

Of course, this is one of the Ukrainian national dishes along with borshch, holubtsi, varenyky, kholodets and others (I will write about it later in a separate post)

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How is the situation on Crimea currently? I know the majority of the population there are ethnic Russians, how deep is the support for the Russian annexation there at the moment?

If in 2014, the majority of Crimean residents really preferred Russia (as much as I would not like to, but I must admit it). Now, as I said, the number of pro-Ukrainian people is growing every day. Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars have always wanted to see Crimea as part of Ukraine, but now even many ethnic Russians want Crimea to return to Ukraine. Russia is turning Crimea into a large military base, and most locals are not happy about it. By the way, it was recently decided to demolish the village (about 100 houses) to build a road. There was another option - to build a road near the military base of the Russian Federation, but the Ministry of Defense was not satisfied with this option, so people were simply thrown out into the street, not even offering them alternative housing.

Of course, I do not have any opinion poll results to show this, because Russia does not know what "freedom" is and what "honest sociology" is.

[😥]

I promised David Hume that he would be the first person I would answer here. So I'm happy to do it.

Please read!
Skip

Thanks for sharing this sad yet important info. I have a few questions.

I am very interested in history and culture. I hope small cultures to survive and not been fully assimilated by the dominant ones. From my knowledge, Belarusian is closer to Ukrainian than Russian in terms of language and culture. But unfortunately, it seems Belarusians are ok with being Russified. Currently most of the people over there speak Russian as mother tongue. It seems unavoidable that they will be completely Russfied in a generation or two. This is vastly different from Ukraine. Do you know why is that the case? How strong is the national identity in Belarus?

For Ukraine, I heard there is a deep national divide. The western part, especially Galicia, was strongly influenced by Poland and Austrian Empire, and strongly against Russification, while the east is less so. What about the ethnic Ukrainians in the eastern part, who survive the Soviet holocaust and Russification?

I know Ukraine is currently going through de-russification. But in the worst case scenario, say US did not defend nor provide enough support, and Putin conquered Ukraine. He is likely to re-russify Ukraine, like promoting Russian as official language again. Do you think the eastern Ukraine could survive that, or (unfortunately) become another Belarus?

And if the current situation continues, or the broke-away forces continue with effective autonomy. Do you think they will be russified like Belarus?

Here are the answers

The situation with Russification in Belarus differs significantly from the situation with russification in Ukraine for many reasons, but I would like to single out 3 main ones. Yes, indeed, Belarusian culture and language are closer to Ukrainian than to Russian, but at the same time, Russian language and culture are closer to Belarusian than to Ukrainian. This is the first reason. The second reason is that at the time of the main repressions of Ukrainians and persecution of Ukrainian culture, not all the territory inhabited by ethnic Ukrainians was under the control of the USSR, unlike the Belarusian ethnic territories. Western Ukraine has become a bastion of the Ukrainian language and culture. Having managed to preserve the language and culture, after the cessation of persecution and Soviet repression, people began to speak Ukrainian again and began to remember traditions and customs. Finally, the third reason actually has a name. And this name is Alexander Lukashenko. He himself does not know Belarusian, and during his reign did his best to destroy the Belarusian language and culture (for example, the Belarusian language is taught in most schools only 1-2 per week, while all subjects are taught in Russian).

As for ethnic Ukrainians in the East, the very notion of ethnic Ukrainians is important here. In fact, many in the East are pro-Russian or non-pro-Ukrainian. But most of these people are ethnic Russians, descendants of Russians who were settled by Stalin on empty lands after the Holodomor. There are many Russian-speaking Ukrainians in the East due to centuries of Russification, but many of them are patriots. Personally, I have many acquaintances from the eastern regions of Ukraine who spoke Russian all their lives, but after 2014 decided to speak Ukrainian so that Putin would not try to "protect" them.

As for Russia's occupation of eastern Ukraine, it all depends on the duration of it. If it lasts up to 30-40 years, I am sure that the Ukrainian language and culture in the East will still survive. And if it lasts longer than 30-40 years, then this part of Ukraine will probably repeat the fate of Belarus (and only obsessive Ukrainization will be able to fix it).

If the current situation continues, it is very likely that the Ukrainian language will slowly but surely prevail. At the same time, the occupied parts of Donbass in 3-4 years will be lost almost forever (for the next 50 years for sure) for Ukraine, as children are brought up there in the spirit of hatred for Ukraine and all things Ukrainian. I can say something else about Crimea, where there are more and more pro-Ukrainian people every day.

Thanks very much for your detailed and helpful answer.

In eastern Ukraine, is there a significant differences between ethnic Russians and russified Ukrainians? How can one tell if someone is a Russian or a russified Ukrainian? How common is the inter-marriage? Is there a cultural conflict between Russians and Ukrainian-speaking ethnic Ukrainians? If so, how strong is it? And how do the russified Ukrainians react to it?

Okay, let's see. I would say that there is almost no difference between ethnic Russians and russified Ukrainians. It is more a matter of self-identification. Some Russians consider themselves Ukrainians, and some russified Ukrainians consider themselves Russians. This is where the difference arises. Its basis is that a significant proportion of people (about a half) who self-identify as Russians think that Ukraine "русская земля" (is Russian land), while people who self-identify as Ukrainians do not encroach on territorial integrity of Ukraine and recognize that they were russified.

It is almost impossible to distinguish between a russified Ukrainian or an ethnic Russian without a passport review or a detailed dialogue when he/she identifies himself/herself.

When marrying, no one cares about nationality. This is not an obstacle.

There is no significant cultural war between Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians and Russians. Of course, there are some small conflicts, but they arise mainly when Russians claim that the Ukrainian language / culture has no right to exist. Sometimes fanatics on the Ukrainian side also show contempt for Russians, but this is extremely rare. Russified Ukrainians react differently to this. As I wrote above, those who identify themselves as Ukrainians mostly support Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians in such conflicts; those who identify themselves as Russians mostly support Russians.

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So you are a Ukrainian irredentist now? How do you square that with your opposition to Russian annexation of Crimea?

What? I never said that all historical Ukrainian lands should return to Ukraine. Everything must be in accordance with the norms of international law, and not as Russia does because of the disgusting occupation of parts of the territory and further repression of the population in these territories.

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How is the situation on Crimea currently? I know the majority of the population there are ethnic Russians, how deep is the support for the Russian annexation there at the moment?

If in 2014, the majority of Crimean residents really preferred Russia (as much as I would not like to, but I must admit it). Now, as I said, the number of pro-Ukrainian people is growing every day. Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars have always wanted to see Crimea as part of Ukraine, but now even many ethnic Russians want Crimea to return to Ukraine. Russia is turning Crimea into a large military base, and most locals are not happy about it. By the way, it was recently decided to demolish the village (about 100 houses) to build a road. There was another option - to build a road near the military base of the Russian Federation, but the Ministry of Defense was not satisfied with this option, so people were simply thrown out into the street, not even offering them alternative housing.

Of course, I do not have any opinion poll results to show this, because Russia does not know what "freedom" is and what "honest sociology" is.

LMAO, you are really saying that Crimeans becoming more pro-Ukraine? Haha, sure.

By the way, how many people did flee from Crimea to Ukraine? Ukraine should have these stats.

Oh, I forgot, people should be happy when their homeland is turned into a military base, when nature and architecture are destroyed, when they are constantly under pressure from special services (especially Crimean Tatars). This is simply true. As the fanatics shouted "хоть камни с неба", right?

And, yes, people are dissatisfied with your occupation authorities. And, yes, this dissatisfaction is growing every day

Maxim Osadchiy, head of the analytical department of the Russian bank BKF, told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti that the highest growth rate of overdue debt on loans to residents in rubles, recorded on October 1 in Russia's annexed Sevastopol (+ 53.7% year on year) ) and the Crimea.

Probably, Crimeans have started to live so well that they can afford not to repay loans at all, right?

ForPost conducted a survey of Sevastopol residents, which showed that people are increasingly complaining about the lack of money.

https://sevastopol.su/news/zhiteli-sevastopolya-zhaluyutsya-na-nedostatok-deneg-v-chem-prichina

Even in Russia, where even a dog can't bark at Putin, polls show that people are increasingly complaining about a lack of money.

Як-то кажуть: "Вы там держитесь, Вам всего доброго, хорошего настроения, просто денег нет"
(All the best to you, there is simply no money - former Russian PM Medvedev)

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Another question. I used to compare Ukraine to Russia as Netherland to Germany. But there is one point I am not sure. There is a dialect continuum across the Netherland - Germany border. But for eastern Ukrainian, since a lot of residents are more recent political immigrants, is there really a dialect-continuum? 

Moreover, is there still a dialect-continuum across the Ukrainian-Berulas boulder? Can people converse with the mother tongue of each side?

The Ukrainian language is quite rich. We have many dialects (but these are mostly slight differences in the definitions of certain objects, which may vary in different regions and small differences in the pronunciation of certain sounds). In general, the language is almost identical everywhere (except in some mountainous regions of the Carpathians, where there is an extremely strong Hutsul dialect, Transcarpathia, where Slovak and Hungarian languages ​​and southern Chernivtsi region, where Ukrainian is influenced by Romanian).

There is such a thing as "surzhyk" - Ukrainian with some interspersed Russian words. It is mainly distributed in the East and South of Ukraine.

As for the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, there are many Ukrainian words used by Belarusians and many Belarusian words used by Ukrainians, but I have not seen widespread use of Belarusian in Ukrainian border villages.

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You didn't really answered. Instead a lot of strange takes. Yes, people in Russia complains about their living standards. But living standard is much higher in Russia then in Ukraine. By a lot. And literally all Crimeans experienced it.

Yawn. Whatever.

You have your position, I have my position. I don't know if you have acquaintances in Crimea. I have acquaintances in the Crimea. Over the last year, I've talked to 5 completely different people, two of whom now have pretty good positions there. 3 of them said that they would like to return to Ukraine, 1 said that he would like to stay in Russia, and 1 said that he did not care

The last time I was in the Crimea was in 2013. And I will return there when it becomes Ukrainian again. I don't know if you were in the Crimea. Maybe you were there before the occupation, and then after and you can compare. I have other sources that I fully trust.

As for how many people fled. Okay, I'll answer. As of 2016, this number is about 50 thousand. Several thousand more have left since then. But people did not flee and do not flee not because they are satisfied. And, in my opinion, it should be obvious. Where to flee if you have lived in the Crimea all your life? It is very difficult to leave your native place. And this is perfectly normal.

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What do you think about the current ongoing tensions between the governments of Ukraine and Georgia regarding Saakashvili? Will it damage their relations permanently?

I strongly doubt that Saakashvili will have any serious impact on Georgian-Ukrainian relations. A few more weeks and everyone here will forget about him, he will become completely irrelevant, and the trial will continue in Georgia. And in a few months everything will return to normal, but taking into account the "skills" of Zelensky's team, I may be wrong.

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Another question. I used to compare Ukraine to Russia as Netherland to Germany. But there is one point I am not sure. There is a dialect continuum across the Netherland - Germany border. But for eastern Ukrainian, since a lot of residents are more recent political immigrants, is there really a dialect-continuum? 

Moreover, is there still a dialect-continuum across the Ukrainian-Berulas boulder? Can people converse with the mother tongue of each side?

The Ukrainian language is quite rich. We have many dialects (but these are mostly slight differences in the definitions of certain objects, which may vary in different regions and small differences in the pronunciation of certain sounds). In general, the language is almost identical everywhere (except in some mountainous regions of the Carpathians, where there is an extremely strong Hutsul dialect, Transcarpathia, where Slovak and Hungarian languages and southern Chernivtsi region, where Ukrainian is influenced by Romanian).

There is such a thing as "surzhyk" - Ukrainian with some interspersed Russian words. It is mainly distributed in the East and South of Ukraine.

As for the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, there are many Ukrainian words used by Belarusians and many Belarusian words used by Ukrainians, but I have not seen widespread use of Belarusian in Ukrainian border villages.

Interesting. I thought Chernivtsi dialect would have a German influence instead of a Romanian one, since it was the capital of Bukovina, where German was the lingua franca.

There are 3 main dialects of Ukrainian: northern, south-western and south-eastern as you can see on this map.

Due to its geographical location, the western districts of Chernivtsi region are influenced by the powerful Hutsul dialect, the eastern by my native Podolia dialect, while the southern is influenced by the Romanian language.

As for German, it does not have such a significant impact.

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Do you at all think that Russia is bluffing in terms of launching a full-scale war and invasion of Ukraine? (I mean besides the ongoing war in the Donbass and Crimea obviously).

As much as many people in NATO countries understandably do not want to go to war with Russia over Ukraine/start World War III, I have yet to see much credence give to the other side of this argument - namely, that Putin is also reluctant to risk a major military confrontation with NATO/the US, over Ukraine or otherwise. I could see him supporting a coup in Kyiv that installs a Kremlin stooge, but a massive military invasion? Less sure...

Would be interested in your thoughts on this.  And thank you for this thread, much appreciated.

To be honest, until recently, I thought Putin was really bluffing. But now, day by day, I am becoming more convinced that a large-scale invasion will take place.

Putin has made completely unacceptable demands that will not be approved by the West. And he knows they are unacceptable. Troops continue to be drawn to the border. As of now, according to Ukrainian intelligence, 122,000 Russian servicemen are within a radius of 200 km from the Ukrainian border, and another 143,000 are within a radius of 400 km from the Ukrainian border.

Recent statements that the US military in Donbass is preparing chemical weapons provocations indicate that Russia will again use its favorite provocative tactics (when the Russian military will itself use chemical weapons in this case and then will blame Ukraine and West and will introduce troops to "protect" the local population).

And the rhetoric on Russian television now boils down to the need to prepare for war.

Putin wants to restore the empire. And he will stop at nothing to do so. And his empire does not exist without Ukraine, so I expect that a large-scale invasion will take place, but the Ukrainians will resist and the capture of Ukraine will not be as easy as he thinks.

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Some people are notably absent from this thread.

We've discussed areas within Ukraine, but what about individual cities - are they representative of their areas vis a vis current dividing lines (be that Russia stance, language and dialect, ethnicity), or are they more like microcosms of the wider country?

As for cities, most cities in the West and in the center of Ukraine are representative of their regions. The vast majority of the inhabitants of these cities are Ukrainian-speaking, pro-EU and pro-NATO. While in the East and South of Ukraine, cities contrast sharply with rural areas. Rural areas are populated by Ukrainians and mostly Ukrainian-speaking, while cities have more ethnic Russians and more Russian language, as ethnic Ukrainians living in cities use Russian much more often than ethnic Ukrainians living in villages.

In general, in the West, North and in the center there is no sharp contrast in terms of population between cities and villages, and in the South and East there is.

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Kolyadka and shchedrivka

In honor of Christmas, I want to talk about Ukrainian Christmas traditions, namely ritual songs - kolyadky and shchedrivky.

Kolyadky are performed on Christmas Day on January 7th. The birth of Christ is celebrated in kolyadka. Children go from house to house singing these songs and getting sweets, nuts or money for it.

The most famous kolyadka is "Good evening to you, sir." Footage from an old movie, modern performance.

Shchedrivka, in turn, is performed on the eve of the old New Year - January 13. It wishes happiness and health to the owner, a good harvest and all the benefits.

Few people know, but this world-famous tune was written by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych, who was killed by Soviet special services

I will give a short description of what each of these songs is about, if you are interested. Maybe I can find a translation too

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Good tweets

https://twitter.com/mhmck/status/1472249030617047041?s=20

https://twitter.com/mhmck/status/1472319776802410497?s=20

https://twitter.com/mhmck/status/1472320679827623938?s=20

https://twitter.com/mhmck/status/1472321152492216321?s=20

https://twitter.com/mhmck/status/1472321453941002240?s=20

https://twitter.com/mhmck/status/1472321916165890050?s=20

https://twitter.com/mhmck/status/1472326950584737792?s=20

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https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-lawmaker-says-prosecutor-seeking-arrest-former-pres-poroshenko-2021-12-24/

"Ukraine lawmaker says prosecutor seeks arrest of former president Poroshenko"

Poroshenko is being charged with treason for colluding with pro-Russian forces.

  This one I find hard to believe.  Is it more about Poroshenko poll ratings that have pulled ahead of Zelensky in internal polls or the local oligarchs have decided to switch their support from Zelensky to Poroshenko for the next election?

Poroshenko, of course, like almost all other Ukrainian politicians, can be accused of corruption, but not treason. This criminal case is fabricated and aimed purely at persecuting the main opponent of the current government, the leader of the opposition.

Zelensky is doing this because he understands that Poroshenko is almost the only threat to his second term. Zelensky is also still under the influence of Kolomoisky, for whom revenge to Poroshenko is a personal goal.

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What is Yulia Tymoshenko doing these days?

She lost her last chance in 2019. Now she has almost no influence and will not have it in the future. Recent opinion polls show that while Razumkov and Poroshenko are beating Zelensky in the second round, Boyko and Tymoshenko losing to him.

Now she is a pure heroine of memes because of her unnecessary plastic surgeries, which make her look like a wax figure.

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What do you think of Odessa?

Also, is that traditionally considered "Western" or "Eastern" Ukraine?

Odesa is quite a beautiful city with beautiful architecture. Odesa is considered the capital of humor, because the population of Odesa, especially the Jewish part of it, which makes up a significant proportion of overall population, is known for its sense of humor and jokes.

I have been to Odesa many times, but I prefer to rest in the Odesa suburbs. There is cleaner and warmer sea compared to Odesa.

Odesa is considered Eastern Ukraine. Although geographically it is better to refer to the West, because of its culture and Russian-speaking population (about 65-70%) it is attributed to the East.

Also, Odesa in the Ukrainian language is written with one "s", in contrast to Russian.

If you had to pick one thing you like most about your homeland, what would it be?

I would say that I like Ukrainian food the most. As for what will make the biggest impression on a foreigner, I think it would be Ukrainian culture in general and Ukrainian song as part of it.

Also, what's your advice for winning a Ukrainian girl's heart? lol

I would not say that there are any features or significant differences from other European countries. Of course, in ancient times there were various rites that had to be observed at marriage, but now they are almost non-existent.

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Speaking of your diaspora where do you think Ukrainian Americans live the most?

The American states with the largest Ukrainian populations are as follows:

New York 148,700
Pennsylvania 122,291
California 83,125
New Jersey 73,809
Ohio 48,908
Illinois 47,623


Distribution of Ukrainian Americans, as a percentage of the population

But if I moved to the United States and could choose any point, I would choose a place with an ocean to swim in the summer and snow in the winter.

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You say that in a sense Odessa is "Eastern" Ukraine, and it is understandable why.

Does this perhaps also apply to Transcarpathia to a degree?

I don't think so.

In Transcarpathia, in contrast to the South and East of Ukraine, the Russian language is not widespread. There are also almost no ethnic Russians there. Some areas of Transcarpathia are mostly inhabited by ethnic Hungarians, among whom separatist sentiments are widespread, which are actively fueled by Orban. The culture of the local population (both Ukrainians, Hutsuls and Hungarians and other) is very different from the culture of the Russian and Ukrainian populations of the East and South.

The Transcarpathian region's vote for Yanukovych and Zelensky is explained by the fact that both Yushchenko and Poroshenko pursued a policy of Ukrainization, which the local Hungarians did not like.

Of course, it should also be noted that the Hungarian language is dominant only in 1 of the 6 districts of the Transcarpathian region (in the Beregovo district).


Resettlement of the largest national groups in Transcarpathian region


The most common language in the cities and villages of the Transcarpathian region

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Do you think Poroshenko runs 4 prez again in 2024? And if so, what are his chances? I would assume not very high.

Poroshenko will definitely run again. And I will enthusiastically vote for him again.

If a year ago, I would say that his chances are quite slim, now I would say that he has about 60% chance of defeating Zelensky. I am sure that due to Zelensky's incompetence and scandals, he will lose to almost anyone in 2024.

Recent opinion polls show that in the second round, Razumkov (former speaker of the Verkhovna Rada) and Poroshenko are defeating Zelensky, while Tymoshenko and pro-Russian Boyko are losing to him.

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https://twitter.com/Ukropo4kA/status/1477976602919280646?t=5R21t9mfOpesbVn8Lozko...

https://twitter.com/Ukropo4kA/status/1477978380129783810?t=qtmnTnFVESX-ETPSmuL0x...

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Some parts of Ukraine were part of Poland during the time period between the two World Wars. Today, is it easy or difficult to find Polish speakers in those areas?

This is very difficult to do. Of course, the Western dialect of the Ukrainian language contains some Polish words, but they are quite few and they are understandable to other Ukrainians, in contrast to, for example, the Hutsul dialect in the Carpathians.

The main reason for the non-spread of the Polish language in Western Ukraine is a completely different language policy in Poland, unlike in the USSR/Russian Empire. Polonization was less active and less harsh than russification; resettlement of Ukrainians was also less widespread.

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You mentioned that Odesa still has a large Jewish population, and iirc Zelensky is Jewish. Would you say that Jewish culture in Ukraine today is more vibrant than in Russia, Poland, and other neighboring countries? If so, what accounts for this?

This is difficult to assess, but it is probably true that Jewish culture is more vibrant in Ukraine than in Poland or Russia.

The Jewish population of Poland is 8,000 (0.02% of the total). Russia's Jewish population is 156,000 (0.11% of the total). The Jewish population of Ukraine is 103 thousand (0.21% of the total). Many Jews assimilated and began to indicate themselves as a representatives of different nationality, and many children from mixed marriages were considered to be of a different nationality than the Jewish one (including thanks to the USSR). Therefore, the Jewish population is actually higher.

Odesa, rather, has absorbed Jewish culture and now there are representatives of other nationalities who are carriers of Jewish culture, so it is quite active there.

In many ways, compactness contributes to the greater spread of Jewish culture in Ukraine than in Russia or Poland. While in the two above-mentioned states the bearers of Jewish culture are mostly Jews, in Ukraine the bearers of Jewish culture, as I have already said, are Jews and many Odesans who are not Jews. So, it is because of the compactness of the settlement of its bearers that Jewish culture in Ukraine can be preserved.