Diana Panchenko and Ukraine
How Ukraine, its language, its past and USSR and Russia and today.
Diana Panchenko is a great source. So good that the kiev regime has sanctioned her:
https://war-sanctions.gur.gov.ua/en/propaganda/persons/25226
She had an excellent channel on Youtube. But they have sanctioned her, too. ‘terminated’ that channel.
She speaks well, clearly, to the point, with knowledge.
I saw a vid and was impressed by it. Cannot get it again but fortunately I have the transcript and I have here a translation of it from deepseek.
I think it so valuable I’m posting it here and I hope Ms Panchenko does not object. I’ll be happy to remove it and replace with a link to her own publication of it if she wishes.
Currently all I have been able to do it post questions in the comments section of vids she has appeared in such as quite recently Daniel Davis’ ‘Deep Dive’ YT channel.
Here it is. I hope you like it and feel like spreading it around. It is an education:
Diana Panchenko. Text of video once on Youtube which has ‘terminated’ the channel.
About Ukraine, USSR, Russia and the Ukrainian language.
Introduction
[Music]
I am a product of modern Ukraine. I studied in a Ukrainian school with Ukrainian textbooks. By that logic, I should now be running around shouting, "I hate Russians!"—because that’s what they taught us for 30 years. I even had to write a book to explain how things turned out this way.
If you were to summarize the entire history curriculum in one sentence, it would sound like this:
"Ukraine fought for independence for centuries, but Russia always stood in our way."
Russia and the Soviet Union were portrayed as "territories of evil." But does anyone in Ukraine even know that modern Ukraine was assembled by the Bolsheviks? Its territories, language, and culture—none of it existed in its current form.
Ukraine wants to carry out decommunization—but doesn’t realize that in doing so, we’re erasing ourselves. Meanwhile, Russia understands perfectly:
"Oh, you’re decommunizing? Well, that suits us just fine."
To understand what happens next, we need to examine the causes.
The Birth of Soviet Ukraine
In 1922, a new state appeared on the world map: the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. At the first All-Union Congress of Soviets, representatives of the Russian SFSR, Ukrainian SSR, Belarusian SSR, and Transcaucasian SFSR signed the Declaration of the USSR’s Formation. The treaty allowed republics the right to freely secede—so in theory, Ukraine became a co-founder of the Soviet Union.
But let’s be clear: Ukraine was never an independent state. These territories were part of the Tsardom of Moscow, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and later the Russian Empire. Just five years before the revolution, it was an agricultural backwater of the empire—"Little Russia" or "the Hetmanate"—with no autonomy or unified language.
How did it suddenly become the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic?
And how, 70 years later, did it leave the USSR as an industrialized state with Crimea, Donbas, and even space rockets?
1917: Chaos and False Independence
After the Tsar’s overthrow, Ukrainian nationalists created the Central Rada, led by historian Mykhailo Hrushevsky. They demanded autonomy within Russia—and were refused. In response, the Rada unilaterally declared autonomy in June 1917.
But the Rada was unelected. Its power came from Austro-Hungarian backing (yes, the "Ukrainian project" was partly shaped abroad). They demanded control over laws, land redistribution, and taxes—but the Provisional Government in Petrograd wasn’t sharing power.
By October 1917, the Bolsheviks seized power. Key figures in the revolution—like Leon Trotsky (from Kherson) and Pavel Dybenko (from Chernihiv)—were Ukrainians. So much for the myth of "colonial oppression"!
1918–1921: Puppets and Bloodshed
The Central Rada proclaimed the Ukrainian People’s Republic (UPR)—but it was a sham. To fight the Bolsheviks, they invited German and Austro-Hungarian troops in exchange for food supplies (1 million tons of grain, 50,000 tons of meat, etc.).
When the Germans grew frustrated with the Rada’s incompetence, they installed Pavlo Skoropadsky, a former Tsarist general, as Hetman. His regime was a puppet monarchy—funded by Berlin.
Meanwhile, Symon Petliura—a self-styled "patriot"—orchestrated pogroms that killed 50,000 Jews. His troops buried children alive and tore gold teeth from corpses. By 1919, the UPR collapsed, and Petliura fled to Paris... where a Jewish avenger assassinated him in 1926.
The Bolsheviks’ Masterstroke: Ukrainization
In the 1920s–30s, the USSR launched forced Ukrainization:
Government, schools, and media switched to Ukrainian.
Ethnic Ukrainians got hiring preferences.
A standardized Ukrainian language was created (thanks to Bolshevik linguists).
Taras Shevchenko was rebranded as a "revolutionary poet."
Why?
Ideology: Marxists believed national cultures could coexist under socialism.
Control: By "leading" Ukrainian nationalism, the Bolsheviks neutered it.
Geopolitics: They feared Poland/Germany would exploit Ukrainian discontent.
But by the 1930s, Stalin reversed course—purging Ukrainization’s architects.
Conclusion: The Irony of History
Modern Ukraine’s borders were gifted by the USSR:
1922: Donbas and Sloboda Ukraine added.
1939: Western Ukraine annexed from Poland.
1945: Transcarpathia joined.
1954: Crimea "transferred" as a "gift."
Yet today, Ukraine denies this legacy. Decommunization means erasing the very state that built you.
As Skoropadsky wrote:
"Galicians and Ukrainians are two different nations. One dreams of grandeur; the other understands realpolitik."
[Music]
Final words: History is cyclical. In 30 years, today’s "truths" may seem just as absurd.
This is impressive work, Arthur. Well done, man.