Quote Originally Posted by E-learner View Post
"Москаль" is not "a Russian". This word has a long history, but I'll just summarize the contemporary usage.
It's a person, as a rule a Russian but not necessarily, who thinks that Ukraine must not exist, or must be a part of Russia. Or thinks that Ukrainian nation or language do not exist, etc etc. That sort of person.

I have no idea about how serious about that phrase are ultra-nationalists, but ordinary people usually use it for trolling Russians.
And Ukrainian Russians can easily use it, too, by the way. Although, I think, most Russian-speaking people in Ukraine are identifying themselves as Ukrainians. It's difficult to tell. There is no "nationality" field in our passports and I don't remember this matter ever to come up in conversations.
Even that, matter of fact it's a call or threat to kill people with a different opinion. Those, who you think are 'Moskals', don't propose to erase from the Earth conterporary Ukraine or Ukrainians, they just think that the Ukrainian state and language were artificially created from ancient Rus states by its occupiers, that the name 'Ukraine' and many words came from Poland. There are such people living in Ukraine who see different their history and origin from official versions, why shoud they be threatened there?