ZHOVTNEVE, Odessa Oblast – Piotr Kirpik likes to joke that in his village the Ukrainians are

an ethnic minority. Over 200 years ago it was founded by Albanians, Albanians,

Gagauz and Bulgarians, who sought asylum from persecution in the Ottoman

Empire, and received an offer of land in southern Ukraine from Russian empress

Yekaterina II.

The

villagers have much sentiment towards Moscow – a lot more than to Kyiv, and are

growing more anxious over the worsening of relations between the two countries.

“There is a very big support of Russia here,” Kirpik says.