No criticism meant: in my own ignorance, I spent most of my life calling its capital "Kiev" rather than Kyiv. But, in solidarity with the Ukrainians, we shouldn't call it "the Ukraine" if we can help it.
same for the Sudan. I think the only country that requires a definite article (apart from those beginning "The Glorious People's Republic of...") is The Gambia, because they were tired of people confusing them with Zambia.
Indeed jim, tho I have myself refrained from saying this as it seemed maybe slightly petty in the circumstances.
But quite right.
No problem with calling "Kyiv" "Kiev" by the way. I prefer to use the now-preferred Ukrainian transliteration, but your crimes against the country are fairly insignificant I'd say :-)
//I spent most of my life calling its capital "Kiev" rather than Kyiv. //
Me too - I'd never heard of Kyiv until this war started. We spell a lot of cities differently from their natives, but in this case Ukraine would, understandably, like to dispense with the Russian version, Kiev, in favour of the Ukrainian spelling. Old habits die hard but I shall do my best.
That is different.
We do not have our own word for Kyiv, even our own anglicised version (for example Lyons for Lyon, Rheims for Reims) , so we go by transliteration.
Lviv is Lemberg in German, and there are many other examples
I'd put good money on the prospect of the nation being renamed "the Ukraine" should Putin's Invasion succeed; on the capital being referred to as Kiev; on Ukrainian being removed as an official language, etc etc. So in that sense it would also serve as a rejection of such an illegitimate puppet State.
If it ever goes that far, of course. let us hope that it does not.
I think those would be least of the horrors.
It's know they plan persecution of LGBTQ activists, and ethnic cleansing along the lines of that practised in Crimea since 2014.
There is a notoriouis prison in "genocide-hit" Donetsk known chillinly as "Isolatsiya"
There were runours Yanukovich was in Minsk and that they were planning to parachute him (presumably not literally) back into power.
That really shows they've lost the plot if true.
It does make you wonder how such idiocy could triumph, even through brute force.