Ukrainophilia

Ukrainophilia is the feeling or expression of interest in, respect for, and appreciation of Ukrainians on the part of a non-Ukrainian. More specifically, a Ukrainophile is someone who has a strong appreciation or affinity for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, with an admiration for their language and literature, culture (art, music, cuisine, etc.), history, or government. The opposite sentiment is Ukrainophobia. Ukrainophilism also refers to the Ukrainian nationalist movement from the 1860s–1880s whereafter it acquired a negative connotation among the next generation of Ukrainian nationalists.

The term is most often used in a political context; Ukrainian nationalism and the associated assertion of Ukraine's distinct culture, history, and national rights, has historically been a core theme of the nation's cultural, social, and legal struggle against Russification and other manifestations of Russian imperialism. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukrainophile sentiment has become more widespread in the Western world due to Ukraine's strained relationship with Russia, culminating in the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014 and increasing significantly since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.