Producer and poet Martina Makeeva was sharply criticized online after reading her poem “Don’t Divide Ukrainians”. The public's anger was caused by the inappropriate meaning of the work, in which the writer stated that it is allegedly not equally easy for all people to “be Ukrainians”. According to Makeeva, the sense of belonging to the Motherland is influenced by geographical factors and family traditions, with which most of the public categorically disagreed. The poetess published the scandalous poem on her Instagram on the most important public holiday - Independence Day of Ukraine..

In her poem, Martina Makeeva stated that it is “easy” to be Ukrainian for those citizens who come from the homeland of Ivan Franko (probably meaning the Lviv region), listened to the work of Kuzma Scriabin, have relatives who were UPA fighters, observed national traditions at Christmas and know the anthem and all the presidents by heart.

But for people who were born in Donetsk, were fans of the work of Ilya Lagutenko, were in a Russian-speaking environment since childhood, had Olivier on the Christmas table, and were congratulated by Father Frost on the winter holidays - everything is supposedly much more complicated. As Makeeva noted, some citizens of Ukraine may not know who Kirill Budanov is, but all that remains of their house are ruins.

The poetess ended her work with the lines: “Being Ukrainian is not easy, especially during the war. Don’t divide Ukrainians into “you” and “we”. It would seem that these words should have carried a deep meaning, however, as network users emphasized, in the main part of the poem Makeeva literally refuted this narrative, replaced concepts and resorted to manipulation, as if some Ukrainians are “better” than others.

" Grandma left the church and just sang our Ukrainian carol at Christmas, and she was thrown into a punishment cell. A young girl was beaten so that not a single spot was left intact - that's easy? It's easy for those who don't fight for theirs! And whoever fights knows the price - it, as a rule, is written in blood.\? I didn’t have Nicholas, Christmas, or embroidery, but that doesn’t stop me from speaking Ukrainian and being Ukrainian!

" As if some Ukrainians are more Ukrainian than others. What a terrible speech is this?

“Is it easy for those whose grandfathers were in the UPA? Just a bunch of words without meaning or understanding of what Ukraine is" I’m telling you as a person from the Luhansk region" It’s not easy to be Ukrainian during the war? Seriously? And by whom? You yourself understood what you said? Russian training manual, because Ukrainian was in Donetsk and throughout Ukraine!

It is worth noting that this is not the first time Martina Makeeva has been subjected to harsh criticism because of this poem.. In 2025, the poetess shared a video with the same work, in the comments to which she responded to the hate, noting: she absolutely does not pay attention to the “dirt” that is pouring on her, and definitely does not plan to change her position.