Ukraine: a war between a liberal and an illiberal democracyThe current crisis in Ukraine can be simply defined as a war between citizens who want their country to be a liberal or illiberal democracy. Eastern Ukrainians, who have considerable influence from Russia, wish to support Russia and its illiberal democracy, its competitive authoritarian regime. Western Ukrainians wish to join the European Union and their liberal democracies based on the assumption that people's rights will be preserved and that citizens have influence in government. Western Ukrainians understand what it means to be part of Russia, whose history dates back to the 1600s, and understand that this comes at the cost of Ukraine losing its 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 is now known as Türkiye). The leader of the time, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, signed the Treaty of Pereyaslav with Russia, he signed the treaty only with good intentions, to gain the support of a strong ally, however, his intentions were not fulfilled. Russian leaders at the time had a very different idea of ​​the meaning of the treaty, which led to the beginning of Russian control of Ukraine (Raikhel, “They did something they didn't want”). In 1876, Tsar Alexander II of Russia banned the printing of the Ukrainian language, as well as Ukrainian-language plays, and allowed only printing in Russian, as well as plays only in Russian (“Ems Ukaz”). In 1888, Alexander III banned the use of the Ukrainian language in government institutions and the baptism of children with Ukrainian names. These overt acts were attempts... middle of paper... taken out of the country during his rule. (Zinets and Heritage, “Ukrainian Prime Minister Says $37 Billion Lost Under Yanukovych”). Yanukovych's $75 million house, the missing $37 billion and the way Russia lied and slandered protesters have convinced former pro-Russian Eastern Ukraine that EU membership is best possible decision. The Ukrainian people see how the Russian media is controlled, how the Russian competitive authoritarian regime works and they want no part of it. The Ukrainian people want a fair and just government, they want to join the European Union where citizens' rights are preserved, where the president does not control the whole country and citizens have a say, where the media and people have the opportunity to freedom of speech and finally become completely independent from Russia and its influence.