The essay analyses the question of some words about Ukraine vis-à-vis Tsarist Russia, which have been attributed to Prussian Chancellor Prince Otto von Bismarck. These words unleashed a vivid cultural debate into a broader international arena. Ukrainian separatism was a strong ideological weapon to limit Russian foreign policy, in Prussia and elsewhere. But, even if Bismarck was aware of cultural ideas flowing throughout Prussia on this topic, he never considered Ukrainian separatism as a serious political option against Russian Empire, in order to play a pivotal role among the Great Powers.