As a matter of fact, there used to be a lot more Ukrainians.
I have heard the ratio of Ukrainians to Russians was like 1:2.
Most of them were either exterminated by the Stalin, or deported to Siberia. Many were subject to massive Russification.
Instead, Russians we moved to Ukraine.
The plan was to eliminate Ukrainians and turn them all into Russians.
The current mess is the last step in this process.
Funny how Stalin, like Hitler, wasn’t even born in the country he ruled, and yet, favored one race over the other. Stalin was a Russophile, who favored Russians over the other nationalities in the Soviet Union, this is something Lenin and Trotsky would have been appalled by.
China is doing the same thing to Tibet. Wiping out an entire people and culture and replacing it with its own.
If you go back far enough....Ukraine used to own/rule Russia.