The Spectrum of Ukraine

There is nothing like visiting a country to better understand its strengths and struggles. Admittedly, I had a preconceived idea of the country of Ukraine that was influenced by my relatives' experiences and what I've learned from media sources. Nothing, however, prepared me for what I experienced on my visit there.

Perhaps the best way to summarize my observations is to say "the Ukraine offers a spectrum, from the sparse to spectacular". In other words, from the typical overt poverty mostly found in villages to opulence in the larger cities. I can not adequately detail this here, so I encourage looking at other posts for the differences between our visits to the cities of Odessa and Kiev compared to the villages we encountered off the beaten path.

Our guides talked about the country of Ukraine on almost every tour, with its history and what is happening in the current day. It certainly was an education to learn about the country from people who live in the country! As visiting Mennonites, we certainly know about the incredible difficulties experienced 100 years ago but the rest of the story is often not known or discussed. I'll try to include summaries of what we learned about the country in this post.

INDEPENDENCE AND ECONOMICS

Even though we experienced a peaceful visit in western Ukraine, we had to remind ourselves that only 200 km away the country is at war with Russia in the eastern provinces! This Wall of Remembrance in Kiev displays the 10,000 soldiers killed to date in the conflict.

Being at war is typical for the country of Ukraine, for the country has always been longing for independence while surrounding empires long to control it. The Ukraine has never been independent and now it has an opportunity with the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1980s. Consequently, they are trying to implement many reforms to get the country back on track.

The Ukraine currently has a population of 40 million and realizes how important it is to diversify economically for survival. While the fall of the Soviet Union broke political ties, it did not break economic ties. For instance, Ukraine is trying to decrease its 85% dependency on Russian energy and is now looking to Europe to meet this need.

I appreciated our guide's insight into the automotive industry and the humor with which Ukrainians view current conditions. Technically, the Ukraine produces their own car called the Zaporozhet but factories are working at only 2% of their capacity (as of April 2018) and it is a 12 year wait to buy a new car! Consequently, we saw a lot of Russian cars like the Lada, which are known for handling local roads and can be parked most anywhere... even sidewalks =)

AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY

There is a real effort in the Ukraine to also get its agricultural industry producing food products again. As history attests, all land became part of collective farms while the country was under communist domination but lately divided evenly to its citizens for private ownership after the fall of the Soviet Union. The trouble is, many villagers who received their land portion need to rent it to others because they don't have the tools or know-how to work the land.

Our guide mentioned that Ukraine has the best conditions for agriculture with its enviable dark soil but socialist/communist methods simply destroyed agricultural production. Simply put, it's difficult to experience a famine with such soil conditions, so the result of any famine (as experienced over the past century) must have been politically motivated. Also, 70 years of Soviet communist rule did not motivate its people in the agricultural sector since individuals could not own property or take responsibility for production on these government-owned lands. Any failure to produce was always someone else's responsibility or problem and there was little incentive to improve.

The result of all this is that many current-day farmers simply do not know how to farm. Farmers come from around the world to help train but little progress has been made. So with this worldwide help, we ask why have conditions not improved in the Ukraine? The simple answer is that people don't like change and consequently don't want to try anything new. Underlying this aversion to change is a lack of trust after 70 years of Soviet rule when Stalin killed anyone smarter than he and creativity was stifled. With the number of murders in the range of 20 million across the Soviet Union, it's amazing there is a country still standing!

FUTURE OF UKRAINE

It is estimated that in 1-2 years Ukrainians will be able to sell their distributed portion of land. My travel group immediately wondered what the landscape of Ukraine will look like after this happens. Most likely the small villages with Mennonite heritage will be gone altogether for conglomerates will likely take over.

As far as the independence of Ukraine, the country had a chance in 2013 to become part of the European Union but the then-pro-Russian president refused to sign. As a result, there is continued civil unrest where some want to go back with Russia while others want to continue pursuing the European option.

Fortunately, the church in the Ukraine is growing along with its people and country and its citizens are coming back to God. The days of overt 20th century repression of religion are over! Recent statistics (in 2016) show that 70% of the population declare themselves believers.

The following are some images of active churches around the Ukraine, such as this former Mennonite Church now Catholic Orthodox Church we attended in the rural village of Schonsee.

Images of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Odessa.

Activity outside a Russian Orthodox Church dedicated to Catherine the Great in the city of Dnipor.

No one knows the future, except God of course, so let's remember to join the citizens of Ukraine in prayer as they once again find themselves struggling for identity and survival in an ever-changing world.