What ties does Ukraine have with Russia?
Ukraine have more historical ties to Russia than many might think
To understand Ukraine and Russia's ties, we need to take a look at the past
Ukraine origin
Where Ukraine is located today, have had population since 32,000 BC. The Slavic Kievan Rus' tribal federation formed the Ukraine identity during the Middle Ages
The country kept growing, but suffered devastating losses during the Mongol Invasion during the 13th century. Which resulted territorial unity collapsed and many surrounding nations wanting a piece
Ukraine continued trying to be one nation and Cossack Hetmanate emerged during the 17th century, but the territory was eventually split between Poland and the Russian Empire in the 18th century
Russian Revolution
In the aftermath of World War I (WWI), Russia was fighting to overthrow the monarchy and an Ukraine national movement was evolving, creating the Ukrainian People's Republic country in 1917
In 1921's Treaty of Riga Russia extended control of Ukrainian People's Republic and renaming it Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Ukrainian SSR)
In 1922 Ukrainian SSR became one of the founding members of USSR
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Five years after the revolution overthrew
the monarchy of Czar Nicholas II, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was founded in 1922. One of the revolution leaders Vladimir Ilyich Lenin took on the first leadership of USSR and lead it until his death in 1942. The city of Petrograd was renamed Leningrad in his honor, after his passing
USSR was a socialist state, consisting of Russia and 14 surrounding countries and combined into one country
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- Estonia
- Georgia
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Moldova (Formerly known as Moldavia)
- Russia
- Tajikistan
- Turkmenistan
- Ukraine
- Uzbekistan
For most of the existence of USSR, Joseph Stalin was the leader (1927–1953). He was a totalitarian leader and his leadership is considered one of the most brutal in world history, where tens of thousands died under his rule
Decades after Stalin, Mikhail Gorbachev had the leadership of USSR. He gave his people the freedom to travel and criticize the government, allowed other political parties to exist and removed the ban on books
Because of the arms race with USA during the cold war, USSR was bleeding money and Gorbachev tried to end the arms race. He succeeded and even started removing nuclear weapons
Now that his people was allowed to criticize to the government and his actions so far was not enough to fix economic situation of USSR. He resigned December 25, 1991 and the USSR fell just days later
Modern Ukraine
Ukraine regained its independences in 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and decided to be a neutral state
Today Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe and is one of the largest grain exporters in the world. With a population of 41,1 million as of January 2022, making them one of the countries with most population in Europe. Out of this population, you have two main ethnic groups; 77.8% Ukrainians and 17.3% Russians. Then the remaining 4.9% Others goes for many different types of ethnic groups
In 2008 Ukraine applied to be part of NATO, but because of corruption concerns and later border dispute. The application is still in process
Most of Ukraine wants to be an independent nation, as they have been since the fall of USSR and to make independent decisions. While a percentage, mainly in areas with strong Russian ethnicity, want to be closer with Russia
Ties with Russia
Over the centuries, Ukraine have had strong ties with Russia, who also stem from Kievan Rus' Slavic heritage. They've been part of the same country, during the USSR area and Ukrain territories have been under Russian rule many times through the centuries
After the USSR fell, Ukraine, Russia and more past USSR states formed CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). CIS works to encourages cooperation in economic, political and military affairs. It also has some power when it comes to trade, lawmaking, security and finance
Because of the strong ties for many generations, you find many people on both sides with heritage from the other country
