I watch this thread closely as my mother's side of my family are Ukrainian Canadians, so I always had/have a soft spot for Ukraine in general, as well as international sports, mostly hockey.
I remember in the '90s Ukraine had a team in the top tier of the World Jr Championships (Canada, etc. had no problem with them, but still...), and were a tier below the top for the world championships even (I think). Is there a chance we see that again in the near future? You still get the odd player in the CHL, and maybe N American pro, but to have players like Ponikarovksy, Khristich, Fedotenko, and others make it (although likely developing in Russia) should spur on the current generation of Ukrainian hockey hopefuls. You even Dmytro Tymashov (Toronto), but he plays internationally for Sweden. I get it that other sports are higher up, like soccer, track and field (?), etc.
What does Ukrainian hockey need to get to the next level? More/better grassroots development? Or is the interest just not there?
Also - was it not recently when if a Ukrainian wanted to play pro in Russia they had to assume Russian nationality?