Bogdan Chelmnitsky, Ivan Mazepa, and diverse other Hetmans would probably disagree with Makhno. As would Askold, Dir and Prince Oleg...
But, hey, TIL: Makhno invented the Technical. Cool, thanks!
I think you could even argue that the 2nd Hetman constituted a Ukrainian state with some sense of a separate Ukrainian identity (Russian officer corps aside). I'm not really making any statement here about the situation prior to WWI, as I'm way less familiar. I'm only pointing out that there existed the idea of a Ukranian state made of Ukranian people prior to the dissolution of the USSR.
Yeah, Makhno was a really interesting guy.
They leveled Chechnya and finally had to cut a deal with Ramzan Kadyrov and his father to get him to switch sides in exchange for putting him in charge. I don't see a Kadyrov like figure popping up in Ukraine.
> this is Ukraine's real birth
Nestor Makhno would have probably disagreed with you.