Why ignored? Just like in USSR Ukraine was generating a lot of produce - and share in the USSR economy - the California also generates a lot of money it spends on rockets. So - I don't see ignoring.
But that's the point. You are trying to deny that Ukraine's aerospace industry was a component of the larger USSR constellation of design bureaus. The Ukrainian bureaus were important, yes. But not the most important. By and large they were the B team. Still highly skilled, mind you.
In the 1990s and 2000s the funding dried up and they mostly fell apart. They were sold to China for parts.
Why do you think so? Moscow was a good magnet for educated and active people, and Leningrad too, but Kiev was next, and there were other big cities in Ukraine with institutes and factories which were modern at the time as well. In USSR there were a distribution of expertise, and in some areas Ukrainian organizations were best in USSR. Ukraine was also quite big in terms of territory and population. So why they wouldn't have their proportional share in at least the mentioned areas?
> They were sold to China for parts.
Mostly, but not quite. A lot of people went to the West - we still see them appearing in aerospace companies. A lot of expertise in theoretical sciences also went global, as it's easier. Mriya was supported until 2022 - and rocket industry kept making Zenith and then Antares well into 2010-th. So clearly working industry remained - even though it have suffered quite a few years of problems.
