History of Ukraine
Strikingly different interpretations of the medieval state of Kievan Rus' appear in the four schools of historiography within Ukraine: Russophile, Sovietophile, Eastern Slavic, and Ukrainophile. The Sovietophile and Russophile schools have become marginalized in independent Ukraine, with the Ukrainophile school being dominant in the early 21st century. The Ukrainophile school promotes an identity that is mutually exclusive of Russia. It has come to dominate the nation's educational system, security forces, and national symbols and monuments, although it has been dismissed as nationalist by Western historians. The East Slavic school, an eclectic compromise between Ukrainophiles and Russophilism, has a weaker ideological and symbolic base, although it is preferred by Ukraine's centrist former elites.
List of political scandals in Ukraine
Several major stand off has developed out of the Russia–Ukraine gas disputes into a real cold war between Ukraine and Russia which took most of Europe by hostage. The gas issues that existed since the fall of the Soviet Union became really acute in January 2009. Another continuously addressed and scandalous issue is one concerning a state language and status of the Russian language in Ukraine which is predominant throughout the country. Trying to reverse the process of russification of Ukraine, the Constitution of Ukraine recognizes the Ukrainian language as the only state language concerning government matters, while still granting the Russian language protection as a regional language. There is also an issue with the state borders which yet to be finalized, while the Mayor of Moscow (Yuri Luzhkov) continues to release statements in 2008 questioning the status of Sevastopol long after the signing of treaty on peace and friendship in 1997.