Ukraine’s Culture Is Bloody, Splendid and Chekhovian

In 1794, Catherine II, empress of Russia, having triumphed over the Ottoman Turks, commanded that the new port city of Odessa rise from the shores of the Black Sea.

Loftily she still gazes out over Ekaterininskaya Square holding that ukase, her bronzed coat glittering after a restoration, a few years ago, that displeased a faction of anti-Russians who scorn the woman who bequeathed them this spacious town with tree-lined avenues and a stately staircase.