It is true. But Ukraine has a bright past as well.

For a few hundred years, it was a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, an unusually large democratic state in the center of Europe. Historians still argue why that state collapsed by the end of the 18th century.

Ukrainians joined that state as a dependency of Lithuania, but their importance gradually grew. So, in their national spirit, Ukrainians are not much different than Poles. They enjoyed some autonomy, but in the 17th century, they sought a greater influence on the nation's affairs. The Poles were not ready for this, so fratricidal fighting began. Russia was eager to help. The rest is history.