BECOMING AND DEVELOPMENT OF UKRAINIAN DIASPORA IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION (1991 – 2017 years)

Abstract

The article focuses on the peculiarities of the formation of the Ukrainian diaspora in the Russian Federation. The stages of development of the Ukrainian community in Russia are highlighted, attention is paid to the main achievements and problems of their functioning. It is revealed that the Ukrainian community evolves from ethno-cultural to national-political format in its activities . The proclamation of the independence of the former republics of the Soviet Union led to the automatic formation of numerous diasporas on their territories.  This required the creation of a contractual basis of interstate cooperation, a legislative settlement of a number of issues inside the country, and the time for representatives of national minorities to rethink their status. Conditionally, it is possible to distinguish three stages of the formation of the Ukrainian diaspora in the Russian Federation.
During their implementation there is a gradual transition from the ethno-cultural type of activity to the national-political. Within the framework of the first stage there is an organizational surge at the regional level: the creation of organizations, creative groups, cultural institutions. State support is almost absent, and all work is funded by the forces of Ukrainian communities in Russia. During the second stage, the cooperation of the governments of the two countries is intensifying, national representative institutions are being opened: cultural centers; libraries; national events are held.  The financial support of the Ukrainian communities' activities on the places was insignificant, and the direction of their activities remains ethno-cultural. In the third stage there is a gradual politicization of the activities of Ukrainians in Russia. This was facilitated by: political rotation in Ukraine; proclamation of the course on Eurointegration; military conflict in the east of Ukraine. As a result, the Ukrainian diaspora is under pressure and reformatting, existing Ukrainian associations are liquidated, and new ones are being created on their places. A peculiarity of the third stage is a sharp increase of the number of Ukrainians in the Russian Federation because of a military conflict in the East of Ukraine. This one gives grounds for talking about further organizational restructuring and changing the formats of the Ukrainian diaspora.