Support Ukraine

Re “Stay out” (Your Views, Jan. 28): Professor Anthony R. Santoro mistakenly claims that “Ukraine is inextricably linked to Russia.” He ponders how we would react if Mexico wanted to join a military pact that was unfriendly to the United States. But Mexico, unlike Ukraine, isn’t threatened by an aggressive neighbor.

Ukraine has a distinct history from Russia. Its origins lie in the medieval state of the Kyivan Rus, founded by Vikings in the ninth century. However, after the Mongol invasion in the 13th century, the Russian and Ukrainian territories went their separate ways. Most of what is now Ukraine came to be ruled by Poland and Lithuania for 400 years. A Ukrainian language developed along with separate religions. Many Ukrainians became Catholics, while the Eastern Orthodox followed the patriarch of Kyiv, not Moscow. By the end of the 18th century, Russia had annexed most of the Ukrainian lands but failed to suppress the Ukrainian language and national identity. When the 1917 Russian Revolution broke out, Ukraine declared independence before being forced by the Red Army into the new Soviet Union in 1922. During the 1940s to 1950s, Ukrainian guerrillas resisted Soviet rule.

As with Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, each a member of NATO, it has been more than 30 years since Ukraine was a part of the Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union finally collapsed in 1991, 92% of Ukrainians voted for independence. Santoro asks, “Are we not adherents of the doctrine of self-determination?” If so, then Ukraine deserves our support, not our apathy.

Edward Powers, Virginia Beach