Ukraine located in the east of Europe is the second largest European country after
Russia stretching over 600,000 square kilometers equivalent to 6% of the whole
Europe territory
With the unique geography Ukraine is a crucial pawn in the strategic and economic
games of the European larger powers namely Russia and the West.
The Kievan Russ.
The dawn of ukraine's history dates back to more than 1000 years ago when Ukraine
did not even exist at least not as an independent sovereign state.
In the 9th century the kievan Russ state often known as the rust state was formed by
the Vikings with Kiev as the capital.
The Russ are claimed to be the cultural ancestors of Ukraine and also Belarus and
Russia.
The kievan Rus reached its peak under the reign of Vladimir the great and his son
yaroslav the wise.
In 988 Vladimir introduced Christianity from the orthodox Christian Byzantine Empire
to the state.
From the 10th to 11th century Kiv Russ became the largest and most powerful state in
Europe.
In 1132 following the death of kiev's grand Prince mistela vladimirovich the state was
disintegrated into separate principalities.
In the 13th century the Kiev and Ross was invaded by the Mongols who then
established golden horde with the russ’s principalities as their vassals.
In 1441 the Crimean Khanate was formed in the Crimean peninsula as the successor
state of the golden horde this period also marked the rise of the Grand Duchy of
Moscow eventually becoming the heart of what is now Russia.
During the 14th and 15th centuries the kievan russe state was divided and ruled by the
golden horde the Crimean Khanate and the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth.
The Cossacks.
The Cossacks the most important piece of ukraine's identity became particularly
strong in the 17th century.
During the Cosacks 1648 rebellion led by hetman bowed in court and noski against
the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth.
A state called the Cossack hetmanate was formed becoming the first independent
Ukrainian state in over 300 years.
The period from 1659 to 1686 was called the ruin a devastating war between Russia
Poland the Crimean Khanate the Ottoman Empire and cossacks for the control of the
Cossack hyphenate.
After the Treaty of perpetual peace in 1686 Left Bank Ukraine and the right bank city
of Kiev were occupied by Russia while Poland seated right bank Ukraine.
1783 Russia conquered the Crimean Khanate under the order of Catherine the great.
Following the partitions of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795 most of
modern day central Ukraine was incorporated into the Russian empire while the
western part was split between Russia and habsburg ruled Austria.
Ukraine under the Soviet Union.
In the wake of the Russian Revolution in 1917 the Ukrainian People's Republic UPR was
proclaimed but only existed till 1920.
In late 1922 following the Russian civil war 4 Soviet republics Ukraine Belarus Russia
and Transcaucasian formed the Soviet Union or USSR .
Ukraine was the most populous and industrialized Soviet Republic from 1922 to 1991
after Russia.
From 1930 to 1933 a man made devastating famine known as Holodomor occurred in
several parts of the Joseph Stalin LED Soviet Union resulting in the death of 6 to 8
million people of whom four to five million were Ukrainians.
In 1934 the capital city of Ukraine was relocated from kharkov to Kiev.
In 1939 as part of a non aggression with Nazi Germany the Soviet Union invaded and
annexed the eastern regions of Poland expanding the Ukrainian SSR territory to the
West.
After the break of World War Two Ukraine was occupied by the access armies from
1941 to 1944.
During the war Ukraine led by the Ukrainian insurgent army fought for its
independence against the Soviet Union the Polish underground state communist
Poland and Nazi Germany.
In 1953 after the death of Stalin Nikita Khrushchev succeeded as the first secretary of
the Communist Party of the Soviet Union paving the way for a Ukrainian revival.
In 1954 the Crimean peninsula's government was transferred from the Soviet Union to
the Ukraine SSR expanding the territory to the South.
In 1991 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union Ukraine regained independence.
Modern day Ukraine.
In June 1996 under the 2nd president Leonard kuchma a new Ukrainian constitution
was adopted turning Ukraine into a semi presidential Republic.
Starting in 2013 since the 4th president Victor Younchkov chose closer ties with the
Russian Federation a wave of large scale protests known as the Euromaidan erupted
across Ukraine.
In 2014 following the Ukrainian revolution of dignity war broke out between Russia
and Ukraine leading to the annexation of Crimea by Russia and the creation of self-
proclaimed breakaway states in Donetsk and Lugansk.
On February 24th 2022 Russia launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine escalating the
ongoing Russo Ukrainian war.
