Claim: There are only 10,000 Rusyns in Subcarpathia.

Reality: This claim is in reference to the results of the 2001 Ukrainian census and is usually made when trying to delegitimize the presence of Rusyns in Subcarpathia or to make it seem like Rusyn identity is a dying trend. Such statements are usually followed by a map like the one below, showing that almost “everyone” now identifies as Ukrainian.

What this map and claim doesn’t actually tell you, is that the number of roughly 10,000 is the result of a process that had a myriad of inconsistencies and issues relating to Rusyns. One could not (and is still unable to) put down Rusyn as their main ethnicity on census forms. Those who are ethnically Rusyn are labelled as Ukrainian by the state of Ukraine. How a person is able to be listed as a Rusyn then given this fact is difficult to fully explain. For example, why is the Svalyava region the one with the majority of the identified Rusyn people? This could have been due to local activist work in some way during the process, yet it has never been fully researched or stated by authorities as to how they came to these numbers. There are other regions of Subcarpathia that are historically and currently centers of Rusyn culture with higher populations, yet don’t show up at all on the census results. This is true with towns and villages that even have their own local Rusyn cultural organizations as well.

In short, if people can not openly state they are Rusyn and write their true ethnicity down on government forms, how can such results be taken seriously? Given the problems stated above, there is no way that the number can be assumed as accurate. With the lack of another census since 2001, and the current situation in Ukraine, it is unlikely we will procure an accurate population in the foreseeable future.