The ongoing war in Ukraine holds a unique resonance for me due to my distinct ties to it. While my family and extended family has almost no ties to Ukraine or Russia whatsoever, I am unique in the sense that I share some connection to that area: my genes. Despite the absence of connections in the family, my sperm donors, both my biological mom and dad, are from two different areas in Ukraine. For most of my life I’ve never been too concerned with my biological origins and was indifferent to where I came from (from a genetic standpoint), but this war has sparked a newfound curiosity and concern for this country that is part of my heritage.

As my situation has brought me closer to this war on the other side of the world, I’ve become intrigued by one detail. One that makes the unanimous support of the war from either side seem unlikely: the similarity between Ukrainans and Russians. I’ve started to form some sort of concern and solidarity with Ukraine just because of the fact that it is a small part of my heritage, yet the Russians are at war with them despite sharing much more. It has been frequently cited that the languages of Russian and Ukrainian share about 62% of their vocabulary (Bermel, 2022). Furthermore, Ukraine and Russia were both part of the USSR until 1991, only around 20 years ago, meaning that the current two countries must share much of the same culture and traditions. These similarities sparked the question of why these two countries would go to war with each other, knowing the similarities between the two.

All evidence for the start of the war pointed at Putin, who declared that Ukraine still belonged to Russia, despite the emergence of the independent nation of Ukraine as a result of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In contrast to Russia, Ukraine has taken on a democratic and more liberal form of government which is seen as a threat by Putin. Since this newfound success of a democratic government may have had an influence on Russians, Putin has been trying to get Ukraine under his control for a while, with this being only the latest, but most extreme attempt since the invasion and annexation of Crimea (UN, 2014). But, the country of Ukraine and its people have fought back, resisting Russian attempts at control which can be shown throughout the last 20 years, with one example being the Euromaidan protests, resulting in the removal of their former pro-Russian president (Motyl, 2014).

With Russia’s constant attempts to claim Ukraine, and the Ukrainian peoples constant efforts to thwart those attempts, they put their determination for a self-governing nation on display. While I don’t have many ties to the country, I feel a profound sense of solidarity with the Ukrainian people and that my connection to my Ukrainian genes has strengthened. Their struggle for independence and determination have made me realize that my genetic roots tie me to a resilient nation striving for its rightful independence and democratic government. This newfound awareness has not only helped my understanding of  the politics of the region, but it has also instilled a sense of pride in the small yet significant part of my heritage that is Ukrainian.