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.