Ukrainian prose writer, poet, and essayist Mykola Khvylovy. For Khvylovy, literature was never merely an artistic pursuit but a national and moral imperative. The Soviet Union promoted the idea of a "brotherhood of nations," yet the Russian language and culture remained dominant. Although the Soviet Union officially portrayed itself as a multinational federation of equal republics, in reality, it functioned as an empire dominated by Moscow. (Wikimedia)Khvylovy firmly rejected the idea that Ukrainian literature should look to Russia for inspiration, arguing instead that the Ukrainian literary tradition belonged within the broader European literary canon.