A little speach about Rus, Russian & the "Ukrainian" question
More 1000 years ago there was only Russian people & only one Rus (this country was named "Kievskaya Rus" only by historics after some hundred years). & after this thousand years this country still named as Rus.

Only in 19 century "ukrainians" was existing in the South & West of Rus (in Russia Empire & Austro-Hungarian Empire). & they was not a nation, but a politic & cultural party. They had another name: "ukrainophiles". There is another party: "moskvophiles" or simple "Russians". In this years in 19 century & first years of 20 century some enemies of Russians (Polishes, Germans) & Russia (Austro-Hungary & Germany) sponsored some revolutionary & separatist parties & movements. In the same time Austro-Hungary repressed Russian movement in their part of Rus. In this time in A-H some "ukrainophiles" under rules of A-H government prodused "Ukrainian language" as anti-Russian. But this langauge is one of Russian dialects, with some anti-Russian includes (changed some words for unlikeness to Russian words etc.).

After October revolution in 1917 bolsheviks (as "internationalists") repressed all Russian national movements & sponsored separatists & not-russian nationalists in all USSR. It was campaign of "korenization" (rootisation) of 1920s-30s. In "Ukraine" this campaign was named as "ukrainisation": all people had to study "Ukrainian language" in 3-5 month & had to use only this language in offices & works, who didn't it was repressed. So became "Ukrainians".

Communists revised history in his official history & in schools & produced propaganda about 3 brother-peoples (Russians, Ukrainians & Belorussians) insteed only one Russian people with some sub-ethnos. Now there is influence of this propaganda & revised history in common sence.