« 2024. # 3 (177)

The Ethnology Notebooks. 2024. № 3 (177), 518—531

UDK [94:39(470.62=161.2)]”19/20″

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/

UKRAINIANS OF KUBAN: HISTORICAL AND ETHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH

AVRAMENKO Anatoly

• ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2538-7195
• Candidate of History (Ph.D., National History),
• Krasnodar, Russia,
• Contacts: e-mail: shron2011a@gmail.com

Abstract. Introduction. The article is a brief outline of the ethnic history of the Ukrainian population of the Kuban region of Russia: stages of settlement, assimilation factors, economic activities, types of settlements, housing, clothing, food, social and family life, customs and rites, folklore. Attention is paid to methods of changing the ethnic composition of the population during the Holodomor of 1932—1933, mass deportations of residents of Ukrainian-speaking villages to the east and north of the USSR. Contemporary ethnocultural processes are considered.

The purpose of the article is to show the leading role of Ukrainians in the settlement and economic development of the Kuban in pre-revolutionary times, the use of Ukrainian Cossacks in the interests of imperial policy, attempts to separate the Ukrainians of the region from native Ukraine, measures to destroy the historical memory of local Ukrainians, the criminal ethnic policy of the Soviet government, consequences of this policy.

The object of the study is the Ukrainian population of the Kuban region from the end of the 18th century to the present, and the subject is the stages of settlement, assimilation factors, economic activities and elements of the culture of the region’s inhabitants, state policy towards the Ukrainians of the region.

During the study of the ethnic history of the Kuban’s Ukrainians, there were applied the methods of empirical (description based on sources and scientific literature) and theoretical research, in particular, comparative-historical, statistical and structural analysis.

The results. It has been proven that the Russian Empire successfully used the fighting potential of the Ukrainian Cossacks in order to conquer new territories, while at the same time trying to separate the immigrants from the cultural influence of Ukraine, to deprive them of historical memory. However, the number of Ukrainians in the Kuban region increased thanks to new waves of immigrants after the abolition of serfdom, self-consciousness remained Ukrainian. Attempts to use the «Ukrainization» of the local population in order to strengthen the Soviet regime were unsuccessful, so Moscow began to destroy everything Ukrainian: books, the press, schools, the national intelligentsia, the Chernomorian Cossacks. Mass terror, forced deportations, and the destruction of part of the Ukrainian population led to a change in the ethnic composition of the region. The modern descendants of Ukrainians rather consider themselves Kubans, the local «balachka» (speak) is gradually dying, but the remnants of historical memory remain, the awareness that the «katsaps» are strangers to the Cossacks and their descendants. However, the cultural and informational isolation of Ukrainians in the Kuban, Moscow’s propaganda contribute to a distorted perception of Ukraine among local residents. This is also an unfortunate consequence of the Ukrainian government’s indifference to the situation of Ukrainians in Russia.

Keywords: ethnic history, Kuban Ukrainians, types of settlements, housing, everyday life, folklore.

Received 6.06.2024

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