chief > And on a side note, does anyone think Russia was kinder to the Jews than Ukraine?
yes and no. At the times mdd pines for, Russia proper did not allow Jews into their country, so they did not do anything bad to the Jews. Jews were invited into Poland by the Kings and then were opposed by competing burgers. Then, Jews figured out that they can work for Polish aristocrats by supervising their remote Ruthenian villages and bringing income back. Obviously, this created tensions, culminating in Khmelnitsky pogroms. Parenthetically, it would be interesting to see teshuvos from that time: how did Rabonim react to people leaving heilicke communities of Warsaw and Krakow and moving to Uman or Lubavich. This is like going to Texas ourdays.