Ethnogenesis of the Russians and the Ukrainians in the framework of the imperial statehood

Being based on the use of comparative analysis the authors analyze the features of the ethnogenesis of the Russian and the Ukrainian peoples during the development of national statehood since its foundation till its transition from imperial to the Soviet model. The authors assume that the background and the first stage of the Russian and Ukrainian ethnogeneses coincide. Mongol conquest of Kievan Russia gave start to the different processes in the formation of the ethnogenetical descendants of the ancient Russian nationality. For centuries ethnogenesis of the Russians and Ukrainians took place in the frameworks of the different state systems. The authors compared ethno-psychological, mental, and cultural characteristics of the Russians and Ukrainians and considered the forms of their participation in the development of the Russian state in the imperial period. By the middle of the 19th century the Russian people formed the attributes of the modern nation. At the same time the Ukrainians not always identified themselves with the Russian state and its cultural space. All this led to the situation when in the late 20th century both nations have moved to the construction of their own states.