Who are Ukrainians

I had high hopes when I saw the cover of this free copy of Kyiv Weekly in a hotel lobby in Odessa this week:

The cover asks What does the world know about us?  What do we know about ourselves?  Is that true?  Who are Ukrainians?

Must say I was a bit disappointed with the rest of the issue.  The most relevant article is "Myth of a country of 130 nationalities", which, as you can see by the first line, doesn't say much: Ukraine is slightly behind the majority of European countries in terms of the level of multi-ethnicity, but at the same time it appears to be a fully nationally homogenous country.  Is this why you've dressed a black child in traditional Ukrainian costume?

In exploring these pressing questions, we learn the following:

• "Labor productivity in Ukraine is among the lowest in the world"
• "Housing conditions in Ukraine do not differ much from our former Gulag inmates
• Ukrainians engage in sexual intercourse 108 times a year, on average
• "Every 5th child born out of wedlock"

Ukrainians are also compared to their neighbors.  Observe:

• "More mobile than Belarusians"
• "Borrow like Serbians"
• "24 liters of milk behind Europe"
• "Russians 5 liters ahead [in average yearly vodka consumption]"

Still not the deep probe into ethnicity, history and cultural identity I was hoping for.  

One of the most illustrative answers to these questions of Ukrainian identity vs. the world, at least for the writers and audience of Kyiv Weekly?  Sushi Ya's advertisement calls out to customers on the last page by advertising itself as Modern Japanese Cuisine with "Western Management."