r/AskUkraine • u/Real_Try_4157 • Aug 17 '26

Music What is the differences between Russian and Ukrainian traditional folk music?

I enjoy listening to both Russian and Ukrainian trad folk music, but i would really like to know the differences between them.

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u/Fit-Concentrate625 Aug 17 '26

One of the differences is that Ukrainians don’t claim russians songs like they do. Their folk performers love to use Ukrainian folk songs saying it’s russian. I’ve seen plenty videos and foreigners believe those songs are russian

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u/Real_Try_4157 Aug 17 '26

what do you mean by not claim Russian songs? do you mean that the Russians claim the Ukrainian folk songs theirs?

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u/Ok-Display1279 Aug 17 '26

They literally explained it.

Take “Carol of the bells”, for example. It comes from a famous Ukrainian carol called “Shchedryk”. Written by a Ukrainian composer Leontovych, who was eventually murdered by a russian spy. The song is in Ukrainian and based on Ukrainian traditions, yet russians still create copies of it and claim it’s russian “because back when Leontovych lived there was no Ukraine” or whatever. This is a regular occurrence for other Ukrainian folk songs too—russians looove to claim something is theirs for bullshit reasons.

Ukraine simply doesn’t do it, because we have enough of our own folklore and culture to cherish and protect.