This has been the Empire building-101 for ages: if you respect the state authority (emperor/czar/rule-of-law), state ideas (christianity/communism/democracy) and speak the state language, you can make it to the top — regardless of your ethnicity.
Even the Roman Empire had an Emperor who was Arab (historians agree he was really ethnic arab) and another one who was African (historians disagree just how black he was, but definitely agree he was unusually black). Salah-ad-Din (Saladin) was Kurdish. Russian Empire had tons of Germans/French/Swedes at their service. Of the famous Nazis, Otto Scorzeny was Polish (Skozheny would be a better rendition of his name) and Odilo Globochnik, Slovakian. Etc. etc. etc.
The idea that Ukrainians were somehow a "minority" in either Russian Empire or USSR is laughable to no end. Ukrainians, Russians, Belarusians were a majority, and there would be no way to tell between them, unless you would study their personnel files. It's as laughable as suggesting that Austrian nazis were somehow treated badly by German nazis.
This has been the Empire building-101 for ages: if you respect the state authority (emperor/czar/rule-of-law), state ideas (christianity/communism/democracy) and speak the state language, you can make it to the top — regardless of your ethnicity.
Even the Roman Empire had an Emperor who was Arab (historians agree he was really ethnic arab) and another one who was African (historians disagree just how black he was, but definitely agree he was unusually black). Salah-ad-Din (Saladin) was Kurdish. Russian Empire had tons of Germans/French/Swedes at their service. Of the famous Nazis, Otto Scorzeny was Polish (Skozheny would be a better rendition of his name) and Odilo Globochnik, Slovakian. Etc. etc. etc.
The idea that Ukrainians were somehow a "minority" in either Russian Empire or USSR is laughable to no end. Ukrainians, Russians, Belarusians were a majority, and there would be no way to tell between them, unless you would study their personnel files. It's as laughable as suggesting that Austrian nazis were somehow treated badly by German nazis.