Ukrainian TV channel: In Transcarpathia there are 170 thousand Rusyn separatists led by the UOC MP
Along with “Donetsk separatism,” “Rusyn separatism” poses a danger to Ukraine. This is stated in the story of the ZIK TV channel.
The bottom line is that the 170 thousand people of Rusyns living in the Transcarpathian region are not recognized by only one country in the world - Ukraine. And in the official census, Rusyns are classified as Ukrainians.
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“During the years of independence, the Rusyns appealed to all government structures at all levels and to all presidents, and everyone promised to solve this problem. Why do we have to prove that I, my father or grandfather were Rusyns. This is my choice, not the country’s choice,” said the head of the People’s Council of Rusyns, Yevgeny Zhupan.
In 1993, the Rusyns held a referendum, unrecognized by Ukraine, in which more than 70% were in favor of granting autonomy to the Transcarpathian region on the same principle as in Crimea. But the Ukrainian authorities do not pay attention to the voting results.
“To whom have we crossed the road, that there are absolutely no Rusyns. They agree to the point that it never happened, and we are just underdeveloped Ukrainians. This is some kind of stupidity,” says the Rusyn poet Ivan Sitar.
A distinctive feature of the Rusyns, according to political scientist Viktor Pashchenko, is their rejection of nationalism.
“Let’s imagine that radical nationalists come to power in Ukraine. Then it is quite easy to raise this Rusyn resistance. Any dictatorial imposition of language, traditions, and culture will cause resistance. Transcarpathians call Lviv residents Poles, and those call them Magyars. These sentiments can be used to quarrel between them,” Pashchenko assures.
At the same time, journalists call the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, which is popular in Transcarpathia, the main danger for inciting “Rusyn separatism.” Moreover, services in these churches are conducted in the Rusyn language.
“The biggest problem in Transcarpathia is not the Rusyns, but the Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. This is not a question of religious life, but of the fact that this is a legalized fifth column. The important point is that all these Rusyns cluster around this Church,” says journalist Bogdan Butkevich.
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