Ukraine

B

Religion

During most of the Soviet period, the state imposed severe restrictions on religious activity, banned many churches, and persecuted religious leaders. Many believers, forced underground, continued to adhere to their faiths, however. Religious activity remained relatively strong in Ukraine, and it has greatly expanded since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. A majority of the population adheres to Eastern Orthodoxy through the Ukrainian Orthodox Church or the Ukrainian Autocephalous (independent) Orthodox Church. Until 1990 all of the country’s Orthodox churches were part of the Ukrainian exarchate, which was subsidiary to the patriarchate (jurisdiction of the patriarch, or head) of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1992 the Ukrainian Orthodox Church split into two rival denominations when the Kyivan patriarchate was formed, separating itself from the Moscow patriarchate. The autocephalous church, which was banned by the Soviet government in 1930, regained legal status in 1990. About 10 percent of the population, based almost exclusively in western Ukraine, belongs to the Ukrainian Catholic (Uniate) Church, a church of the Byzantine rite (see Eastern Rite Churches); banned in 1946, this church was officially revived in 1991. Other denominations include Roman Catholics of the Latin rite, Jews, Muslims, and Baptists.

C

Education

Literacy is almost universal in Ukraine, and education is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 14. Ukraine’s institutions of higher learning include ten universities and a large number of specialized academies. The most prestigious is the University of Kyiv (founded in 1834), located in the capital. L’viv State University (1784), located in L’viv, is the country’s oldest university. In recent years private schools and universities have appeared, most notably the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (1992), located in Kyiv.

D

Way of Life

Ukraine’s society was traditionally agrarian and village-based. With Soviet rule came rapid modernization and urbanization. By the 1960s, most inhabitants lived in cities. Important regional differences developed in Ukraine; today the west tends to be more agrarian, traditionalist, religious, and Ukrainian-speaking, while the east is industrialized, urbanized, and more often Russian-speaking. The highly regimented lifestyle of the Soviet period is slowly being supplanted by a consumer society. However, the transition to a market-based economy is difficult, and most people have been engaged in a desperate struggle to make ends meet.

A series of exploitative regimes kept living standards low during the Soviet period, although the government provided employment and other provisions such as housing. Apartments built during the Soviet period are small and cramped, and most of the buildings are now dilapidated. An average family has only about one-seventh the living space of an average family in the United States. People in Ukraine spend more than half of their income on food, and many families depend on garden plots to meet their food needs. Due to economic constraints, families are small and getting smaller. Divorce rates are high. Despite formal equality, women are especially hard-pressed. Although they form the majority of the labor force, even in sectors demanding physical labor such as farming, few women have positions of influence in politics, business, or government. Vacations, once lengthy, have become less frequent for most people. New developments since the end of Soviet rule are freedom of expression and the growth of private property, especially in the form of dwellings.

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The Ukrainian diet depends heavily on rye bread, potatoes, and borscht (beet soup). Pork and pork products, especially sausage and salo (a type of smoked bacon), are favored meats. Alcohol consumption, especially of the potent horilka, a wheat-based whiskey, is high, and smoking is widespread. Consumer goods are now more available than in the Soviet period, but few people can afford them. City residents usually have appliances such as refrigerators, telephones, and televisions; these amenities are much less common in the villages. Soccer is the most popular spectator sport in Ukraine. The main leisure activity is watching television. Cultural activities such as concerts, opera, and ballet are becoming less accessible for most people because of the cost.

E

Social Issues

The transition from the Soviet period has brought serious new problems. Much of the old elite (nomenklatura) have weathered the transition well. Many Soviet-era managers and factory directors retained their positions and profited from privatization. Highly placed members of the Communist Party hierarchy and security apparatus moved into business, often of a dubious kind. A thin stratum of new rich has begun to appear.

For the vast majority of the population, however, the transition has meant a catastrophic decline in living standards. Since 1991 the average standard of living has declined by 80 percent. An estimated 20 percent of the population, especially the elderly, now lives below the poverty level. Unemployment is growing, and health care is deteriorating. Life expectancy at birth for males dropped to 62.2 years by 2007. Ecological disasters, poor diet, and other factors have lowered resistance to diseases. Epidemics of diphtheria, cholera, and hepatitis have been frequent in recent years. A tragic consequence of the Chernobyl’ explosion has been a large increase in thyroid cancer in children.

Crime is rampant, especially corruption, with much economic activity controlled by “mafia” clans based in industrial centers such as Donets’k, Dnipropetrovs’k, and the cities of Crimea. The influence of organized crime often reaches into the highest levels of government.

IV

Culture of Ukraine

Ukraine’s geographical location between Europe and Asia meant that much of its early culture was a synthesis of Eastern and Western influences. When a developed culture emerged in the medieval, or Kievan, period, the influence of the Byzantine Empire was paramount. In early modern times, major European currents such as the Renaissance reached Ukraine via Poland. A cultural dichotomy today exists within Ukraine, with western regions reflecting European, especially Polish, influence, while in the eastern regions the impact of Russian culture is evident.

The well-developed and colorful folklore of Ukraine has helped Ukrainians retain a cultural distinctiveness in the face of strong assimilatory pressures from neighboring lands. During the Soviet period the government extensively subsidized cultural activity, but culture was expected to serve as a vehicle for Communist propaganda. In the late 1920s and especially in the early 1930s, the Soviet regime began enforcing socialist realism as the only acceptable artistic style. Socialist realism mandated that all artists and writers glorify the Soviet regime and its goal of attaining communism. The collapse of the Soviet Union brought new freedoms for Ukrainian artists, but it also meant a sudden drop in government subsidies. Today government support is minimal and a funding crisis exists. The Westernization of cultural activity is moving ahead rapidly, with commercialized and previously taboo activities such as pop concerts and production of pornography becoming commonplace.

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