Ukrainians

When I was a child at school I liked to study geography and to the east there were rivers such as the Dnieper, Dniest and Volga (which was also the model of a famous Soviet car). Then there were cities like Leopol, Kiev, Kharkov and Dniepropetrovsk, all with Russian names because the USSR did not allow regional nationalism and also all the flags were similar, all red, a bit like the one re-introduced in Belarus by the dictator Lukashenko . But in the early 70's dad took us on a cruise three times on the cheap ships of the Black Sea Fleet (Chernomorskoje Flot) the Taras Shevchenko and the Ivan Franko, with their red funnels with the hammer and sickle. It was then that talking to waitresses and ship employees we realized that there were "Ukrainians", that there was a real Nation and that the language was also very similar to Russian but it was not Russian! They were very kind and hardworking people, warm and almost affectionate towards us and they left an extraordinary memory in our hearts. My father gave me a Soviet Zenit camera on the ship that I still have and he bought a Fed that was a Soviet imitation and cheaper but more robust and precise than the German Laika. We talked to many Ukrainians who, although very reserved and cautious, already showed us a lot of sympathy and a great desire for Europe. This is my old memory, old but true and still very much alive.