BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Russian Culture Ukraine and Russia, different people?

I have just got back to Russia from Ukraine, and I must say I'm surprised by how different the two countries are. I'd expected some local colour, but what I saw was a wholly realised and separate culture. I think Ukraine is quite right to have chosen independence from Russia, even if they now have a difficult time uniting the country to choose political directions. In alliance with Russia, they would simply not have a strong enough voice. The tricky humanitarian issue is how to keep freedom of travel between the 2 countries if Ukraine gets closer to Europe, as many families are spread across both sides of the border.

how long have you been there?

In Russia, for the last 5 years on and off, but this was my first visit to Ukraine and I only stayed 2 weeks. I would like to get to know Ukraine better in the future, it made quite an impression.