The Ukrainian "stat't'a" "article" between an adaptation and Russification

Out of the two forms of genitive plural of the Ukrainian noun stat't'a ‘article’, namely stattej and statej, the former has been assumed to be purely Ukrainian, whereas the latter a Russified one. The paper attempts to demonstrate that the relationship is not necessarily as simple, moreover, that such an interpretation does not altogether answer the question of why only the form of genitive plural, and why of this very word, would have become the object of a stronger Russification.