Divieiev-Tserkovnyi, who fled the war abroad, sparked controversy with nostalgia for the USSR, and the host was quickly corrected

Famous Ukrainian singer Mariia Burmaka shared her memories from the past when she was the only Ukrainian-speaking child in a Kharkiv kindergarten. Against this backdrop, the artist wanted to remind us how important it is to fight for our identity and national consciousness despite the prohibitions, obstacles, and "values" imposed during the Soviet era. Her post unexpectedly received a response from Oleksii Divieiev-Tserkovnyi, a once-famous Ukrainian TV presenter and producer who disappeared from the information space for a long time while sitting out the war abroad. The showman expressed nostalgic sentiments about how good life was in the USSR.

According to Divieiev-Tserkovnyi, there were no prohibitions back then, and "we lived together." By "we," the host meant Ukrainians and Russians. However, the "Soviet" fan was quickly put in his place by reminders of the Executed Renaissance, the confiscation of books in Ukrainian, and the imposition of Russian. The discussion heated up in the comments on Burmaka's Facebook page.

As we've already noted, it all started with the singer's post about being the only Ukrainian-speaking child in her kindergarten.

Burmaka posted an archival photo of herself in a national costume with a wreath and captioned it: "When it comes to the dignity and protection of Ukrainian, I just remember my feelings in a Kharkiv kindergarten. When I was five and spoke Ukrainian. When you fight for yourself and your identity from childhood, it's like breathing. Someone realized this last February. I have been in the Revolution of Dignity all my life as a daughter of my people. X stands for character, Kharkiv, charisma."

This touching post has provoked a strong reaction from Ukrainians. Commentators recall those who were examples of resilience and consciousness during the Soviet Union and thank them for their stance, all except for Diveiev-Tserkovnyi. He does not believe that Ukrainians were in any way oppressed in the USSR or that the Ukrainian language was restricted.

"I'm sorry, what was banned? In the Soviet Union, banknotes were inscribed in all the languages of the republics: one ruble, one karbovanets, ... The state emblem also had a proletarian slogan in all languages. In the cities, there was a choice of schools: either Russian-language (but with Ukrainian language and literature classes) or fully Ukrainian. Bookstores are full of books in Ukrainian. The Ukrainian state TV channel UT-1 and the radio station Promin. Girls in wreaths and guys in pants and embroidered shirts were at every holiday. Back then, we lived together," the Soviet enthusiast shared his thoughts.

Burmaka gave a meaningful and clear answer to this. She explained that the sham Sharovarshchyna in the USSR had nothing to do with conscious Ukrainianness. The true face of Sovietism was the murder and mass repression of Ukrainian intellectuals, the destruction of Ukrainian books, and the cultivation of the inferiority of the Ukrainian language.

"Yes, they banned it. The Executed Renaissance, do you know this term? The Slovo house? Sandormokh, where Ukrainian intellectuals were shot en masse. Kurbas and Kudish were killed by the same bullet. The shot congress of kobzars? (The movie The Guide is about this). Poets and writers were repressed. They expelled them from universities, and they wanted to expel me. My father was not admitted to graduate school because he had a 'nationalist mustache.' In Kharkiv, there was one Ukrainian school on Rymarska Street. They laughed at my Ukrainian language and pointed fingers at me. Worthwhile Ukrainian literature (the key word is worthwhile) was taken from bookstores and libraries and burned. My father miraculously found such a warehouse, and that's how Oleksandr Oles, Bohdan-Ihor Antonych, and Mykola Rudenko appeared in our home. He simply saved these books... Is this news to you? Girls in wreaths and boys in trousers, bacon and cheese pies were cultivated. And at that time, dozens of Ukrainian figures were being driven to suicide, killed, and putrefied in camps," Burmaka said.

However, this answer did not seem exhaustive enough to the showman. He said: "The system was festering in the camps. Solzhenitsyn and Mandelstam were also festering there."

However, other commentators also came into play, reminding the "mancurtain" how the USSR and Russia itself had been trying to destroy Ukraine for centuries.

"What the hell was the 'choice'? In my Zaporizhzhia, with a population of almost a million, there was only one Ukrainian school in the whole city! What kind of 'choice'? Yes, there was plenty of bacon, pants, dumplings, and non-bacon. To turn Ukrainians into retarded, unintelligent, marginalized peasants... And to spread all this through joint TV channels with the Russian Federation. Such as Inter, "What about the Holodomor, which is recognized as a genocide of the Ukrainian people?", "There was also an official supplement for teachers of the Russian language and the inability to defend a scientific work in Ukrainian," "Are you serious or is this an inappropriate joke? I will speak for my native Donetsk, because we are seeing the consequences of the imposition of the Russian language with our own eyes. In the union, it was an honor to be exempt from the Ukrainian language, there were no Ukrainian schools in the city," Ukrainians explain to their "compatriot."

As OBOZ.UA wrote, earlier Divieiev-Tserkovnyi explained why he was "forced to leave Ukraine" and is staying abroad during the war. Details are in the article.

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