Ukraine: a war between a liberal democracy and an illiberal democracyThe current crisis in Ukraine can simply be presented as a war between citizens who want their country to be a democracy liberal or an illiberal democracy. Eastern Ukrainians, who wield considerable influence over Russia, want to support Russia and its illiberal democracy, its competitive authoritarian rule. Western Ukrainians want to join the European Union and their liberal democracies on the principle that the rights of the people will be preserved and that citizens will have influence over the government. Western Ukrainians understand what it means to be part of Russia, whose history dates back to the 1600s, and understand that it comes at the cost of losing Ukraine's identity. To understand the mentality of Western Ukrainians, one must first understand history. In 1654, Ukraine was at war with Poland, Russia, and the Tatars (what we now call Turkey). The leader at the time, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, signed the Treaty of Pereyaslav with Russia, with good intentions only, to gain the support of a powerful ally, but his intentions were not met. Russian leaders at the time had a very different idea of ​​the meaning of the treaty, which led to the beginnings of Russian control of Ukraine (Raikhel, “They did something they did not desire). In 1876, Tsar Alexander II of Russia banned the printing of the Ukrainian language, as well as stage performances in the Ukrainian language, and allowed printing only in Russian, as well as stage performances only in Russian ( “Ems Ukaz”). In 1888, Alexander III banned the use of the Ukrainian language in government institutions as well as the baptism of children with Ukrainian names. These blatant acts were attempts... middle of paper...... sent out of the country during his reign. (Zinets and Heritage, “Ukrainian PM Says $37 Billion Disappeared Under Yanukovych”). Yanukovych's $75 million house, the missing $37 billion and the way Russia lied and slandered protesters have convinced the former pro-Russian eastern Ukraine that membership in the European Union is best possible decision. The media is controlled, the functioning of the authoritarian and competitive Russian regime, and they do not wish to participate in it. The Ukrainian people want a fair and just government, they want to join the European Union where the rights of citizens are preserved, where the president does not control the whole country and where citizens have a voice, where the media and the people have freedom of expression, and finally become completely independent from Russia and its influence.