Note 4 — Chapter V · B. Historic and Political Songs

За Землю Руськую,—Za Zemlu Rus(i)kuyu means for the land of the Rusyns—Rusyts(i) or Rusytch(i), these words having been Latinized into Ruthenus (Ruthenia) in the 9th century; another appellation was introduced in the 12th century: “Ukraine,” Ukrainians, which latter name was generally adopted by all the Ukrainians during the struggle for independence with Poles and Russians in the 17th century similarly as the name “Rumanians” replaced the former names Moldavians and Wallachians; the word Rusyn means Ruthenian; is still locally used by the Ukrainians. Since the “Word” was written in Ukraine by the Ukrainians it is self evident that this precious ancient Ruthenian masterpiece as well as many others cannot be and is not the “Russian” literature; and that therefore “Земля Руська” means the Ruthenian or Ukrainian land of the princes of Kiev and Galicia—Volhynia. Russian is always and invariably written by double ss, whereas Ruthenian is invariably written by one s with a sign of softening added ь: Русин adjective: Руський equals Ruthenian—Ukrainian.

The Russians (Moscovites) wrongly claim the foundation of the Kiev empire to themselves; they have fed, so to say, on the ancient Ukrainian culture, language, state and civilization which were already known historically in 8th century, while the Russian state began forming itself in 13th century around Suzdal and Moscow by the amalgamation of the Slavic tribes of Radimitches and Viyatitches with the Mongolian Finns.

These facts are undisputed by all modern unbiased students of history. That the Russians succeeded in overwhelming the Ruthenians temporarily and have favorably impressed the world as the inheritors of the ancient Ukrainian empire—ah!—it is another story, a story of ruthless oppression and extermination of the Ukrainian people and their independent state.