No one has done more for Ukraine's unification than Putin - Academician Libanova, Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences 

Professor, Director of the Institute of Demography and Social Research at the National Academy of Sciences, Ella Libanova, believes that Russia's war on Ukraine has united the Ukrainian nation as never before

She expressed her opinion on the air of the "Verdict with Serhiy Rudenko" program on the Espreso TV channel.

"December 30, 2022 will be the centenary of the formation of the USSR. It is very likely that Putin interprets himself as a land collector and this date is very important to him. Besides, he and everyone understood that Ukraine is moving away from Russia. Not so much geographically as mentally. And this is more important than Ukraine's accession to NATO and the EU. Ukrainians finally understood that they are not Russians. This is what undoubtedly started to worry Putin," Libanova explained.

The professor emphasized that Russia's aggression against Ukraine united the Ukrainian nation.

"We paid a very high price for the unification of Ukraine. In general, I believe that no one has done more for the unification of Ukraine than Putin. And we paid a huge price for it. This is true. However, as a result, we got a completely unexpected unity of the Ukrainian nation.  "I am not convinced that it will remain at this level after the war. Most likely it will not. However, today we have a completely united and united nation that resists Russian occupiers," she added.