Ukraine

[Emily Tall]

As a longtime speaker of American English, I am certain that, to my ear
at least, "the Ukraine" lacks any contemptuous connotations whatsoever.
The same goes for "the Bronx" as opposed to "Brooklyn," or "the
Ivory Coast" as opposed to LUxemburg, and so on. It is annoying to
switch to "Ukraine" just because it is annoying to change the way
one speaks, not because of any political overtones. E. Tall