Thanks for this Byzantine reflection.

You're writing in English and Anglophone readers will subvocalize the CH not like a CH in Chai or Chaim but with the CH in catch. It's a cognitive speed bump for readers, which you're, of course, free to leave in.

The cyrillic X is subvocalized as the CH in Chaim, which in English is rendered as KH, as in Khazars. So the cyrillic X is transliterated as KH whether written in Russian or Ukrainian, as in Kharasho. The Russian govori in Ukrainian becomes khovori, aspirated like Tuscans aspirate the Italian k sound: Try, “Coca Cola con la cannuccia corta” (a Coke with a short straw), which in dialetto Toscano sounds like khokha khola khon la khannuccia khorta.

This analysis shows you why retired prof is an oxymoron.