You are probably well aware of what is happening in Ukraine. Horrors I never thought I would see. Events I expected to find in history books, not in my friends’ messages. The war is here. Russia has attacked my country. Suddenly, and without cause. The president of the neighboring country, intoxicated by his personal fantasies, is sending people to death.

Not the first time we are “liberated” by Russia

I have a feeling of intense déjà vu. I cannot avoid the comparison to “The Russians Have Come!”, a novel by Aleksander Chust, a Rusyn writer from Ukraine. The novel retells childhood memories from World War II. Back then our people did want the Russians to come. They were led to believe the Russians would bring good life, freedom and wealth. I will not tell you how it ends. If you want to know, ask your grandparents. I have heard much about it myself – both good and bad. Stories of people’s land being taken away. Some people remember the cheap sausage, others remember seeing meat once a month in the first postwar decade, if they were lucky.

My mother’s uncles fled the Hungarian occupation in 1939, crossing the border into the USSR. They, too, believed the propaganda saying “our people” there would help. They were caught on the border and sent to work camps. Many of those sent to these camps never returned home. Those who did fought in General Svoboda’s Czechoslovak Corps. That was their only chance to return.

Suffice it to say, do not take propaganda at face value. Today’s propaganda says we are being “liberated” like the last time, but the only thing I see is blood and destroyed homes. This is not the freedom I wanted to see in my land.

What will the war bring us?

Before we even get to how long the war would last and how terrible the losses could be for the Ukrainian state, it is very clear our lives are not going to be easy – both in the economic and social dimensions. It does not take an economics professor to understand that many people will lose their jobs. Ukraine’s economy will be decimated both by the war and the efforts to reconstruct all that would be destroyed by Russia.

However, I would like to focus on the cultural aspect at the moment. I can certainly say Rusyns and other minority communities would have a harder time for the following reasons:

1. While the war is ongoing, and even afterwards, people would be radicalizing more and more. Intolerance to “others” would increase. Without aiming to generalize, it is likely that other ethnicities would be distrusted despite their efforts to support their country. The anti-Russian sentiment could spread to anything that is “not Ukrainian”. Not just Rusyns, but also Hungarians, Romanians or Slovaks could face mistreatment.
2. Many “dormant” Rusyns, i.e. people who have not decided on their preferred identity path, would choose the currently more prestigious identity. Meaning, many would begin identifying as Ukrainians to feel more secure in this difficult time. Not just out of fear of being “different”, but merely out of convenience.

In short, many people speaking Rusyn on a daily basis may proactively start speaking Standard Ukrainian online or at home with their children. Whether they consider Rusyn to be a separate language, they may forsake it to adopt a more prestigious language and strengthen their ties to the Ukrainian people – even if this means abandoning their very own and native language. This is another thing that makes me sad.

New migratory waves

People are fleeing the war, fleeing to the west. Many arrived at Užhorod. I see them every day and try to help however I can. People also come to our smaller towns and villages. At the same time, many of our villagers flee further to the west: to Slovakia, Czechia, and further away. The longer this war continues, the less likely it is people would return home. The people forced to come here by the war would stay, and our people would not return to their homes either.

Just to be clear, this is hypothetical at the moment. I do hope we would see the opposite, with everyone being able to return. But as they say, hope for the best and prepare for the worst. So let’s consider a negative, pessimistic scenario.

In the worst case, things would stay as they are now, meaning many would have to live far from home. This would change the language landscape as well. New people would form new mixed dialects. Consider a hypothetical scenario, where 10-15 families from the east move to a Rusyn village. This would influence the entire village’s language. If this had happened say 100 years ago, these families would have assimilated and adopted the local dialect. At present day, the opposite would likely happen. The newly arrived would speak the “prestigious language” used everywhere in the media. The locals would easily switch to that language to facilitate communication, to the detriment of their own language. The newcomers might only adopt a few favorite local words – but besides that, our language would not continue.

The dialectal spectrum that had formed here over centuries would be broken. Every wave of migration introduced something new but also destroyed something. Today we might witness another language death. We do not know if the language has a chance to survive in some other form. One thing is certain: it will never be the same again.

Is there a chance for Rusyns to be recognized after the war?

I would now like to consider the situation from a legal perspective. At the moment, Rusyns are an officially recognized minority in all EU member states (and in North America), that today provide financial and moral support to Ukraine’s struggle against the aggressor state. But would that mean the EU pushing Ukraine to recognize Rusyns after the war? Definitely not, as most people just do not care.

An important factor would be whether Ukraine would seriously attempt to join the EU. I foresee two hypothetical scenarios:

1. Ukraine would be trying to join the European Union. For this to happen, the EU would demand Ukraine aligned its laws to meet numerous criteria. Apart from various bureaucratic points, this would include important laws concerning minority rights. Slovakia can serve as a positive example: it quickly adopted all the necessary legal provisions, recognizing Rusyns, but also the Roma, Hungarians etc. Turkey would be a negative example: it has been a “candidate state” for about two decades. Their minority policy is nothing impressive: poor Kurds might never see the day they would be recognized.
2. Ukraine would not try to join the European Union. The chances for this to happen are very low. The last two revolutions in Ukraine were “pro-European”. This political course is also enshrined in law. It is difficult to imagine the people of Ukraine rejecting this plan. Nevertheless, let’s assume this could happen. Given the expected societal radicalization and fear of “the other”, this would most likely imply a slow death of the Rusyn culture.

A tearful look to tomorrow

My worries make it difficult to even think about this situation these days. I am worried for my friends in Kyiv, worried for my distant relatives in Kryvyi Rih, worried for the country I grew up in, where I planned my future, where we have a chance for normal life in a democracy (like being able to elect our presidents).

Every day it is difficult to stop reading the news, trying to find out what is happening, how “our people” are doing. Every day it is difficult to get yourself together and do something. All my personal projects are at a standstill – there is no energy or time left. Besides that, I understand some may be irritated by any content I might publish right now, because “the time is not good for that”. I am writing this text at night, while looking at the article giving advice in case of a nuclear station explosion.

I want to believe we will make it, that the aggressor will retreat (Putin will die), and orthography studies will again become my biggest problem – which one between “мош” and “мож” is better. But as difficult as it is, I have to admit it will never be the same again. My cultural activity could be completely destroyed by Russia, even if it was not intended against me personally. It will become more difficult to be Rusyn in my country, Ukraine. Despite all the support from official Rusyn organizations. Despite Rusyns dying in this war. Despite whatever any of us personally contributes to aiding Ukraine. It will become more difficult to be different. Most of all because Russia has already used us in its “information warfare”. Rusyn impostors on Putin’s paycheck are asking him to “liberate” us. As always, a good barrel might be thrown out because one rotten apple would attract all the attention.

I’m afraid that preserving our language will go on the back burner for many of us as well, not just for Ukrainians. Besides any moral or political reasons, some of our people will have to care more about getting food on the table than passing on their language.