Abstract. The Ukrainian political elite treats power as a guarantee of control of all other types of resources. In order to retain its power positions it looks for opportunities to consolidate the political nation in the country. In this connection it carries an active search for additional means of its own legitimation and looks for additional opportunities in a rivalry for the loyalty of citizens and for the political influence. The article focuses on the problems of transformation of the Ukrainian political identity, on the factors and main directions of its conversion from a “non-Russian” to an “anti-Russian” one. The author stresses the necessity for establishing a new long-term Russian political strategy regarding Ukraine.