IT'S HARD TO TELL IF RUSSIANS ARE SERIOUS OR JUST JOKING THESE DAYS...
NEWS THAT THE UKRAINE IS "BANNING" RUSSIAN SPEAKING CHANNELS FROM IT'S CABLE TV SYSTEM IS CAUSING SOME PROBLEMS IN RUSSIA... UKRAINE SAYS THE RUSSIAN CHANNELS ARE DISTRIBUTING PROPAGANDA. BUT THE HUGE RUSSIAN POPULATION IN EASTERN AND SOUTHERN UKRAINE WANT THEIR TV IN RUSSIAN.
THE FINAL SPLIT BETWEEN RUSSIA AND UKRAINE COULD BE CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC...NOT ECONOMIC. INDEED IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN TO SOME EXTENT...
BUT STILL THE "SOCIAL GLUE" OF ORTHODOXY, GEOGRAPHY AND EASTERN SLAVIC CULTURE ARE HARD TO BREAK.
