Star Member mahina (9,963 posts)
3. Ukraine. No "the" needed. Thanks heaps.
On one hand, "the U" was common usage here in the US during the Soviet era. That ended some 30 years ago, and Ukraine is independent, but old habits ... . What
Star Member TrogL probably does not know is that the Soviet era, especially the 20s through the 40s, were not good times in Ukraine, putting it
VERY mildly. So much so that when the Nazis first invaded, many Ukrainians supported them, thinking they would be freed from the monster Stalin and not knowing that Hitler was equally monstrous and viewed Ukrainians as subhumans to be enslaved or slaughtered.
So many Ukrainians have serious antipathy toward the Russians - possibly the root of
mahina's snip - which Putin has recently renewed, and many Russians call Ukrainians "Nazis" for having briefly supported Hitler during the "Great Patriotic War".
