🔹RokuenTuna🔹

Do you have a tip.on how I can make sure?

Hello and thank you for your question!

First of all, I'd love to hug you (if you'd like that) because seeing people learning Ukrainian language and culture and drawing things related to Ukraine always warms my silly little heart🤧💜

Idyll, 1908

Here's a nice old Mykola Pymonenko painting for you to look at (cause look how peaceful and pretty it is!)

Now, let's talk a little bit about searching for references.

Luckily, when it comes to clothes, Ukrainian and russian folk clothing is actually pretty damn different (yet another stone at the "brotherly nations" narrative). You are much more likely to confuse a Ukrainian costume with, say, a Romanian or Polish one than a russian one.

(Ukrainian (on the left) vs russian (on the right) clothing on historical photography. I'm just saying that they're pretty darn different)

The problem is, of course, that russia is constantly trying to appropriate the Ukrainian costume (as they do with anything else), so you are likely to see misguiding descriptions or comments (as shown here).

So our goal today is to learn how to tell apart Ukrainian and russian costumes (trust me, it is not that hard), talk about certain traditions that are more likely to be either one or the other, and then I'll list some foolproof tips for anyone out there looking for references 💜

Here is the thing: the most iconic thing in Ukrainian traditional clothing is most likely the vyshyvanka — a traditional embroidered shirt. That's an element you won't see in russian clothing. Period. As I've said, it's much easier to confuse Ukrainian clothing with our other neighbours.

The elements you will probably not find in Ukrainian clothing are the kosovorotka (a shirt with the collar that's kinda off-centred) and the kokoshnik (a piece of headwear that's usually attributed specifically to russia). Also, traditionally, you aren't likely to see a Ukrainian woman wear a sarafan (a type of upper dress without sleeves), since most women in Ukraine wore long shirts as a base with a variety of types of skirts and upper pieces on top separately, depending on the region, weather and status. We also have to keep in mind that the people from the cities and the villages dressed differently for different purposes, and that the financial status determined the amount of accessories and the type of materials one could wear. For example, Ukrainian girls "invested" and wore a lot of necklaces, one of which could cost a lot, like, more than two bulls or something. Definitely a big status symbol and probably the reason I love layering necklaces so much.

The more necklaces, the better! These girls get it!

Another thing — there are regions in russia that used to be overwhelmingly populated by Ukrainians, and so the costumes would be more similar to those from Ukraine, because they are of Ukrainian origin. Duh. Regions like belgorod, voronezh, kursk etc.

When it comes to traditions, it is a little more difficult, because during the Schism of the russian Church a lot of the old traditions originating in russia were forcibly replaced to match the canons from Greece and Kyiv(!). Since religion was a central part of a person's life back in the day, a lot of the traditions might be similar. Another reason they might be similar would be the process of russification in both the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union.

Some of the authentic Ukrainian traditions that did not exist in russia: vechornytsi (a tradition of young people's social gatherings (those were spicy as well 👀)); the tradition of Malanka (costumed NYE celebration, usually including a goat mask and the Christmas stars (zvizda), Christmas and New Year carols (literally don't exist in russia so they translate ours🤡). In general, Ukrainian traditions are more connected to agrarian life and are more individualistic and egalitarian in nature, the russian traditions are more collectivist hierarchical (a lot more patriarchal, too).

Ukrainians all over the world celebrating Christmas

Now for the foolproof (almost, because nothing in this world is a 100% guarantee, of course) method for finding references!

So, you may have noticed that Pinterest and Google search kind of suck in separating Ukrainian and russian culture overall. Here are a few more or less reliable sources you could use instead:

1. This Wikipedia article about Ukrainian traditional clothing (in Ukrainian, but it has the most information by region, and also provides evidence in historical photography, illustrations and paintings)

2. The internet pages for ethnographic museums: for example, National Museum of Ukrainian Folk Decorative Art or Ivan Honchar Museum. The Ukrainian museums from abroad can also be very helpful, since they may include heirlooms that would otherwise be destroyed or sold in the colonisation processes.

3. Historical literature, magazines and illustrations: for example, Striy can be very helpful here.

4. Historical paintings! The National Library of Ukraine has a great selection to start.

5. If you want something more modern, ethnic photographer Anna Senik has really interesting looks and perspective to offer!

Hope this helps! 💜

Today I actually watched a video review on the russian history textbook for 11th grade (in Ukrainian), and one of the things that stood out to me was that they often wouldn’t source their insane claims, instead opting for an indirect “it is widely known”, “it is a fact that” etc.

Presenting something absurd as a fact and not expecting any questions is raised in them since school, I suppose, and spreads onto their supporters as well.

Also, there would be a whole bunch of bots claiming all the same sourceless things. If you see comments about “Donbass people oppression”, “russian language bans”, “Ukrainian nazis”, “NATO breaking agreements with russia” etc. it’s a dead giveaway of a russian bot.

The recent example of the Russian couple holding up an no war sign during a marriage proposal on top of a tower is probably the clearest example of this. It's the kind of thing that easily fits booktok aesthetics and inspires edits where people imagine themselves in that moment, while completely ignoring the fact that it didn't actually help anyone or change anything. In terms of real impact, it's on the same level as posting a black square on Instagram.

There was no attempt to raise money for actual aid or direct people toward organizations that are genuinely helping.

It's simply a nice gesture — an activist version of "let them eat cake", where having a beautiful, symbolic moment matters more than creating real change.

It's a form of privileged activism where actually changing the situation isn't the important part.

The actions of Ukrainians during a genocidal war are the complete opposite. They're focused on actually saving lives, which makes the contrast even more obvious by showing what genuinely helps and what doesn't. For people who are invested in this kind of activism, acknowledging that difference would require rethinking their own beliefs, so it's often easier to simply ignore those actions instead.

Another reason for this is that these Russians are living peacefully in other countries, in circumstances much closer to the everyday lives of Western audiences. They're simply easier for them to relate to than Ukrainians living through war.

I've also often heard Ukrainian activists say that they have to think very carefully about how to communicate with this part of the Western audience. For many of them, almost everything is considered "outside of politics" and the war is reduced to "two presidents having a conflict". Because of that, even lectures about Russia's cultural genocide against Ukraine have to be framed in ways that won't upset people who insist on separating Russian culture from politics, even when that framing directly contradicts the reality of Russia's actions against other nations.

Honestly, it reminds me of how many of these same activists reacted to the protests in Iran.

Peace lover, my ass.

🔥🌪️ У зоні відчуження помітили вогняний торнадо – сильні грози на Київщині не допомогли загасити масштабні лісові пожежі, які тривають вже близько тижня через падіння ворожих дронів.

fuck you. how dare you come crying to me about how pathetic and powerless you are? how it astonishes you that YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR PEOPLE are bombing kindergartens and ancient churches and killing civilians ON A DAILY BASIS?

вьі меня спросите виновата ли 15-летняя люська из хуйзалупинска грязьгубернии рф что россия совершает геноцид и уничтожает украину каждьій день и я вам скажу - да ето так

i'm not gonna thank you for your shriveling sprig of consciousness. you should be sorry and you should feel ashamed of what your country is doing. and i'm and the Ukrainian people are not obligated to acknowledge it or give you all an absolution of your sins.

I'm not about to trace all your fucking lineage. For any Ukrainian it is safe to assume that any russian is dangerous and is somehow related to the war machine and only a fool would trust a word of a russian.

And don't come preaching to me about morals or peace. You guys don't have any. If you wanted to show me a 'good' russian you only made things worse. Please leave, go live in your bubble of "oohh, poor me, every one hates me and haven't done anything, boo hoo".

Go fuck yourself.

The "situation" is your country committing genocide against Ukraine.

You can't even be honest on your own Tumblr page. And your clients might end up funding, through the taxes you pay with their money or through your own donations to your country's army (because some westerners quickly forget that a person can actually support their country's actions, especially when they phrase things like this), the continued killing of ukrainians.

on the other hand...