First, let me explain that 30 percent of Ukraine is ethnically Russian. They are Russian the way I am Cuban and they are Ukrainian the way I am American.
Told by an ethnic Russian:
*A Ukranian man is leaving for war. While his wife is hysterically sobbing, the man calmly put sallo under his helmet. He then tucks a loaf of bread under his shirt and sausage in his socks. He pats his wife on the shoulder and tells her not to worry, he will, "do no fighting today," because he will be safe and warm in the POW camps.
Told by an ethnic Ukrainian:
*Researchers decided to see which army cursed the most. The devised a clock that had a hand that moved one second for every curse word said. They gave it to the Spanish army. By the end of the day, it had gone around once. They gave it to the American army. By the end of the day, the hand had gone around three times. They gave it to the Russian army. The Russian soldiers asked: "who put this ventilator in here?"
Told by an ethnic Russian:
*A Ukranian woman is doing back-breaking work in the family garden while her husband rests in the shade of a tree. His best friend comes along and prods the man awake, demanding, "Why aren't you helping your wife?" To which the man replies, " I am resting so that I am ready to fight when the war comes."
*And, lastly, if you translate the Ukranian national anthem into English, the first line reads, "We are not dead yet." Seriously.
Cultural insights? Maybe.