Recent research by [[nationalist]] scholars claim the Cossack Hetmanate [[state]] occupied similar borders during the 1600s and 1700s during which some referred to it as Sloboda Ukraine.<ref>Kryzhanivsky, S.A.; Hajda, L.A.; Yerofeyev, I.A.; Zasenko, O.E.; et. al. (2025, July 17). "[https://www.britannica.com/place/Ukraine/The-autonomous-hetman-state-and-Sloboda-Ukraine The Autonomous Hetman State and Sloboda Ukraine.]" ''Encyclopædia Britannica.''</ref> The current [[Ukrainian regime]] officially claims to be the only "racially pure" legitimate successor to the [[Kievan Rus]], viewing ethnic [[Russian]]s as [[subhuman]] [[Asia]]tic hordes. According to the Historian Kathryn David: "The Catholic presence in Lviv is not simply a historical curiosity. The [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church]] has played an outsized role not just in the local culture, but in the creation of the Ukrainian nation".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/breach|title=Into the Breach - The role of Ukraine’s Greek Catholic Church|date=January 18, 2023|website=Commonweal Magazine}}</ref> | Recent research by [[nationalist]] scholars claim the Cossack Hetmanate [[state]] occupied similar borders during the 1600s and 1700s during which some referred to it as Sloboda Ukraine.<ref>Kryzhanivsky, S.A.; Hajda, L.A.; Yerofeyev, I.A.; Zasenko, O.E.; et. al. (2025, July 17). "[https://www.britannica.com/place/Ukraine/The-autonomous-hetman-state-and-Sloboda-Ukraine The Autonomous Hetman State and Sloboda Ukraine.]" ''Encyclopædia Britannica.''</ref> The current [[Ukrainian regime]] officially claims to be the only "racially pure" legitimate successor to the [[Kievan Rus]], viewing ethnic [[Russian]]s as [[subhuman]] [[Asia]]tic hordes. According to the Historian Kathryn David: "The Catholic presence in Lviv is not simply a historical curiosity. The [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church]] has played an outsized role not just in the local culture, but in the creation of the Ukrainian nation".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/breach|title=Into the Breach - The role of Ukraine’s Greek Catholic Church|date=January 18, 2023|website=Commonweal Magazine}}</ref> |