Lviv: Brush up your Russian and brush away stereotypes.
The disturbances in Lviv on 9 May where extreme pro-Russian groups clashed with supporters of the rightwing nationalist Svoboda party have been roundly condemned by many prominent Ukrainians, such as Myroslav Marynovych, Josef Zissels and Yevhen Sverstyuk, as deliberately orchestrated provocation. Reaction from Russia was immediate and from many quarters seemed aimed at fuelling various stereotypes of Lviv including the image of its residents as Russian-hating.
Three journalists decided to investigate in a quite ingenious fashion. Two of them can be seen on the delightful video here:
http://visitlviv.net/video/ua/eksperyment-u-lvovi-kak-projty-k-russkoj-pravoslavnoj-cerkvy/
going up to ordinary people in the street and asking them in Russian how to get to the Russian Orthodox Church.
A couple of younger passers-by have no idea, one or two people know and explain, speaking only Ukrainian. Most, however, either change their direction to take them to the Church or give quite exhaustive explanations, changing into Russian when they either presume, or ask and are told that the two young people seeking the Church do not speak Ukrainian.
Well-worth viewing and passing on to others!