Late Russian professor Pyzhikov has much lectured and written about Ukrainians as civilizers of Russia in the 17th century, but for him this was a rather bad phenomenon with negative influence on Russian culture and history.
Anyway we have to note that the Russian imperialist is a Western European creation, both in 17th-18th and in 21st centuries. Without European money, advisors, technologies, supplies Russia would be just one more big ASIAN state, just like Osman Empire, or Persia, or China, or Türkic Central Asian and Siberian Kaganates. Asian Russia could be dangerous for its direct neighbors, but not for the whole world. The same could be said about the Red China. Without American and another Western help the Chinese would still chase sparrows and melt metal in small home furnaces, like it was the case under Mao Zedong in 1960's.
Late Russian professor Pyzhikov has much lectured and written about Ukrainians as civilizers of Russia in the 17th century, but for him this was a rather bad phenomenon with negative influence on Russian culture and history.
Anyway we have to note that the Russian imperialist is a Western European creation, both in 17th-18th and in 21st centuries. Without European money, advisors, technologies, supplies Russia would be just one more big ASIAN state, just like Osman Empire, or Persia, or China, or Türkic Central Asian and Siberian Kaganates. Asian Russia could be dangerous for its direct neighbors, but not for the whole world. The same could be said about the Red China. Without American and another Western help the Chinese would still chase sparrows and melt metal in small home furnaces, like it was the case under Mao Zedong in 1960's.
Most, if not all, technological developments that happened in the USSR were the achievements of Ukrainian scientists and engineers.
Very many Soviet scientists and engineers were also Jews, many of them were from Ukraine.