I'm not sure it's strictly a matter of grammar. Ukrainian lacks the definite article, but I know Ukrainians who are not in the least offended by my saying "The Ukraine". Rather than grammar, I think it's a matter of what feels natural to the English speaking tongue. We often say "The Yukon". Certain leading sounds just seem to require the article in order to sound right. A bit like the use of the English indefinite article, "a" and "an". An English speaker certainly means nothing derogatory by using the article in front of "Ukraine". What if we were using Classical Greek where the definite article comes in front of all proper nouns such as personal names. (Don't know if this holds for modern Greek.)
And before we get derogatory about the Russians, let's remember they just got out from under the same system. And what about my friend who is of Ukrainian birth but Russian citizenship?
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