My wife is from Ukraine. I have been there 6 times. Kiev is rife with the reminders of a very recent communism. The Soviets tore down the beautiful St Sophia and replaced it with a giant government building. The people have since built a replica across the street. When I first went there in 1999, I had to bribe the airport inspector as he x rayed my luggage and sneered the word “cassettes”. In Kherson, 4 policemen armed with ak-47’s shut down a small disco I was in, ordered the house lights on, and started frisking every man in the place. I have many many stories about the Police state there from my brief visit there. It is a police state, even now. Why is Julia Tymoshenko in jail? Yanukovich poisoned the last man who ran against him. Policeman is a well paying corrupt career and the Ukrainians hate them. Policeman is authorized by the socialist state of Ukraine to make people disappear.
My friends in Kiev would be surprised to hear your descriptions.
I would imagine, these days and times that life might be better under the Russian sphere. Russia has an oil industry. I’ve been to Kiev. I’ve seen the communists marching and protesting for communism with loudspeakers standing under a statue of Lenin. Make no mistake, these people miss the power of belonging to the party. The native Ukranians speak Ukranian and are proud of there heritage. The Russians are occupiers left over from the Soviet days. Native Ukranians want them out, but the party still has a stranglehold on the government and they control elections.