Ukraine
I have actually been to Ukraine, specifically Kiev. Although I did not speaking either Russian or Ukrainian, I did talk to a few people who spoke English. The general view I got was that the Russian speaking people who lived under the Soviet Union hated Russia whereas the younger generation had a romantic view of Russia. All the Ukrainian speaking people hated Russia.
I also found out that there is an east/west divide in people. The western side speaks Ukrainian, the eastern side speaks Russian. And the Ukrainian speaking people don't like the Russian speaking people, and vice-versa. It is a lot like the Yankees and Southerners of the US, except worse. (Or British and Scottish for the U of K.) In Ukraine, there is actual disdain by the Russian/Ukrainian speaking sides.
The result of all this is a divided nation. It goes from one wanting to be closer to the EU to one wanting to be closer to Russia. And the cycle repeats. Remember the orange revolution? Ex-KGB Vladimir Putin is smart and ambitious. And jealous. The East/West European culture divide is still alive. It is alive in Ukraine too. I always think Putin is jealous because Ukraine is not fully under his sphere of influence, just half the nation is.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
