Ukraine as a Historical Borderland

Ukraine, a country whose name literally means “the land at the border” , has historically played a central and often tumultuous role as a crucial borderland between Western Europe and Russia. The vast East European steppe, which characterizes much of its landscape, has historically made the area vulnerable to invasions by various nomadic peoples and later great powers. At the same time, this geographical position has shaped Ukraine into a dynamic crossroads of cultures and trade routes, contributing to a rich, yet complex cultural diversity that absorbed both Eastern and Western influences. The history of Ukraine is therefore complex and often tragic, marked by periods of occupation and conflicts with a series of greedy to outright predatory neighbors, including the Huns, Poles, Mongols, Habsburgs, the Turks of the Ottoman Empire, followed by the Third Reich and finally the Soviet Union. This constant exposure to external forces has profoundly shaped Ukrainian identity. Despite centuries of struggle and the continuous need to reassert its distinctiveness against powerful neighbors, Ukraine has always possessed an inherent value and potential, far beyond the role of a simple buffer zone. The phrase “far from a ‘borderline case'”  emphasizes that, despite the historical challenges, the resilience of the country and its people has remained a fundamental characteristic. With a territory of 580,000 km² (approximately 14 times the Netherlands and 19 times Belgium), Ukraine is the second-largest country in Europe, with a population of 41 million inhabitants, consisting of both Ukrainians and Russians, in addition to former Polish, Jewish, and German communities. This demographic composition reflects the complex historical layers of migration and domination. This blog will chronologically trace the rich and often tragic history of Ukraine, starting from the earliest settlements and the formation of Kievan Rus’, through periods of external domination and the rise of the Cossacks, the struggle for independence in the 20th century, and culminating in recent conflicts and the current fight for sovereignty.

The Early Roots and Kievan Rus’ (c. 9th – 13th Century)

The territory of present-day Ukraine has a very long history of habitation, dating back to the Old Stone Age, with archaeological finds demonstrating the presence of Neanderthals and early modern humans, including musical instruments. Around 3500 to 2000 BCE, the Yamnaya culture was established here, later succeeded by, among others, the Catacomb culture. These early periods were characterized by the presence of nomadic raiders and conquerors who roamed the steppe, emphasizing the openness and vulnerability of the landscape to invasions. From the 7th century BCE, the Greeks established colonies on the northern coast of the Black Sea, including near Crimea, where the indigenous Slavic population made contacts and traded in products such as wine, textiles, olive oil, and later also livestock, wood, honey, and grain. Around 200 BCE, the Romans took over the Greek colonies, and at the beginning of our era, the Bosporan Kingdom emerged, encompassing the region around the Sea of Azov and Crimea. This strategically located region, however, also became a target for conquerors; a few centuries later, around 200 CE, the Sarmatians conquered the area, followed by the Huns in 376 CE. Subsequently, a strong Slavic expansion took place, covering the area from the Elbe to the borders of the Byzantine Empire, with Kyiv as its central capital. In the 11th century, the Kyivan Rus’ (also known as Kievan Rus’ or Kyiv Roes) emerged. This realm was an important political and cultural center, characterized by economic growth and flourishing trade. The Kyivan Rus’ engaged in trade and employed steppe tribes, the predecessors of the later Cossacks. However, the significance of Kyivan Rus’ as the cradle of East Slavic states is a point of historical debate and geopolitical tension. Russian President Putin considers the baptism of Prince Volodymyr of the Kyivan Rus’ in Chersonesos in Crimea in 988 as the beginning of 1000 years of Russian history. According to his interpretation, three sub-peoples developed from the Rus’: the Great Russians, the Little Russians (as he calls Ukrainians), and the White Russians, who form one main group religiously, linguistically, and culturally. This narrative framing implies that Ukrainians are merely a part of a larger, inherent Russian identity, directly challenging the Ukrainian claim to a distinct historical trajectory and independent nation-building. However, the emphasis on Kyiv as the heart of this early state is a cornerstone of Ukraine’s claim to historical continuity and a separate national identity. The struggle over this historical interpretation is not merely an academic debate; it forms a fundamental ideological component of Russia’s justification for its actions in Ukraine, particularly the denial of Ukrainian sovereignty and a separate cultural identity. This historical claim is actively used as a tool in the current conflict, shaping narratives and legitimizing aggression. In 1054, the Great Schism occurred between Rome and Constantinople, leading to a further separation of Christianity and the replacement of Latin and Greek with Slavic. This schism fundamentally divided the Christian world and contributed to a religious and cultural divergence between the Western (Catholic) and Eastern (Orthodox) spheres. Between 1054 and 1240, Kyiv declined. The fragmentation of the Kyivan Rus’ in the 12th century made Ukrainian territory vulnerable. In 1240, the Tatars (a combination of Mongols and Turks) conquered the Russian principalities and ruled them for 250 years. This period of Mongol domination further isolated the East Slavs from rapid developments in Western Europe and simultaneously fostered a different political and social structure under foreign rule. The Mongol invasion directly led to the weakening and fragmentation of Kyivan Rus’, creating a significant power vacuum. This vacuum then allowed for the rise of other regional powers, such as the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later Muscovy, to exert influence and control over Ukrainian lands. The Tatars established their own state in Crimea in 1441 and destroyed Kyiv in 1482. This process shaped the future geopolitical division of Ukraine and laid the foundation for centuries of external domination and the continuous struggle for a unified national identity.

The Cossacks and the Influence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (c. 15th – 18th Century)

Around 1400, groups of hunters and fishermen, often runaway serfs, settled in southern Ukraine. These groups became known as Cossacks or freebooters. They quickly became a symbol of freedom and independence in a time of increasing serfdom and external domination, and are deeply embedded in Ukrainian national identity and culture. This is even reflected in nicknames such as “topknots” for Ukrainians, referring to the traditional lock of hair worn by Cossacks. The Cossacks played a crucial role in repelling the Tatars after the destruction of Kyiv in 1482. This demonstrated their military prowess and their role as defenders of the borderlands. From the 15th and 16th centuries, the Cossacks gained significant influence. In 1649, they even managed to establish an independent state, known as the Cossack Hetmanate, under the leadership of Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Ukraine, originally taken by the Lithuanians in the thirteenth century, was incorporated into the Polish kingdom in 1569 with the Union of Lublin. This led to a “powder keg of cultural and religious contradictions” , as Polish influence increased in a predominantly Orthodox area. The Ukrainian noble elite was swept away by Western (Polish) culture and often converted to Roman Catholicism, gradually coming to be regarded as traitors to Ukrainian values and the Eastern Orthodox faith. Jesuits attempted to incorporate the Eastern Orthodox Christian population into the Roman Catholic Church, resulting in the Union of Brest in 1596 and the formation of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. This religious split intensified distrust between the Roman Catholic elite and the Eastern Orthodox population. From the incorporation of Ukraine into the Polish realm, numerous Polish nobles (szlachta) settled in this relatively empty land. They brought not only Roman Catholic priests but also many Jews who were appointed as innkeepers, intermediaries, or tax collectors. This aroused the hatred of the local population, who felt humiliated by both the Polish invaders and their own elite, who regarded Ukraine as a colony of Poland. These deep-seated tensions led to unrest among peasants and Cossacks, culminating in massacres of nobles, priests, nuns, and Jews. After the Battle of Zboriv in August 1649, negotiations led to a part of Ukraine (the counties of Kyiv, Bratslav, and Chernihiv) coming under Cossack administration, where no Jesuits, Jews, or Polish soldiers were allowed. The Cossacks, as powerful representatives of Ukrainian aspirations for self-determination and resistance against both Tatar incursions and Polish domination , demonstrated their strong desire for autonomy by establishing the Hetmanate. In 1654, Cossack Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky concluded the Treaty of Pereiaslav with Russian Tsar Alexis I, placing Ukraine under the protection of the Russian monarch in exchange for military aid against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This treaty was a crucial step and led to the Polish-Russian War (1654-1667). In 1654, the Cossacks brought about what the Russians considered the “reunification” of Ukraine with Russia, after the break in the 13th century caused by the Mongol invasions. Russian garrisons appeared in Kyiv and other places in Ukraine and called the country “Little Russia”. However, this strategic decision to seek protection from the Russian Tsar unintentionally opened the door for Russian expansion and eventual control over a significant part of Ukrainian territory. This illustrates a recurring historical pattern: the pursuit of freedom and external support, in a complex geopolitical landscape, can paradoxically lead to a loss of sovereignty to another powerful neighbor. After Khmelnytsky’s death in 1657, his successor Ivan Vyhovsky attempted to establish Ukraine as a third nation alongside Poland and Lithuania within the Commonwealth with the Treaty of Hadiach (1658), but these plans did not materialize. Ultimately, in 1667, with the Treaty of Andrusovo, Ukraine was split into a Polish and Russian part on either side of the Dnieper River. The territories east of the Dnieper, known as Left-Bank Ukraine, became part of Russia, which was later definitively confirmed by the Eternal Peace of 1686. Within the Russian part, the Cossack Hetmanate was established, which enjoyed a certain degree of self-governance but was under the sovereignty of the Russian emperor. Under this imperial influence, eastern Ukraine was gradually Russified. Later, in 1672, Sultan Mehmed IV invaded the Commonwealth, after which, with the Treaty of Buchach, large parts of the Commonwealth, including Ukraine, were ceded to the Ottomans. The Treaty of Andrusovo in 1667 was more than a political border agreement; it formalized a deep geographical and cultural division of Ukraine along the Dnieper into separate Polish and Russian spheres of influence. This division fostered divergent historical paths: the Russian-controlled east underwent gradual Russification and integration into the Russian Empire , while the Polish-controlled west remained more connected to Central European cultural influences and maintained a stronger presence of Greek Catholicism. This historical bifurcation is explicitly identified as the “foundation between the west and the east in this area” , a division that persists and is highly relevant in contemporary Ukrainian politics and society. Understanding this historical schism is essential for comprehending the regional differences in political orientation and cultural identity that continue to play a significant role in contemporary conflicts, including the conflict in Donbas in 2014.

Under Russian and Habsburg Rule (18th – Early 20th Century)

At the end of the 18th century, during the partitions of Poland, the area west of the Dnieper was seized by the tsars, eventually incorporating all of Ukraine into Russia. Catherine the Great played a key role in Russian expansion towards the Black Sea. In 1774, her general Potemkin gained access to the Black Sea, and in 1783, he conquered Crimea, which was of great strategic importance to the Russian Empire. The Russians had a clear policy: they did not want an independent Ukraine. They conquered the eastern bank of the Dnieper, including Kyiv, suppressed the Cossack uprisings, and left the area on the western bank as a tributary to Poland. During the time of the Tsars, Ukraine was the “breadbasket” of the Russian Empire, a vital source of agricultural products. However, most people in the countryside were poor, indicating a system of economic exploitation for the benefit of the empire. Under the Tsarist regime, Ukrainian culture was deliberately and systematically suppressed. The Ukrainian language was (incorrectly) branded as a Russian dialect, an attempt to deny the distinctiveness of Ukrainian identity. Many Ukrainians became alienated from their own cultural heritage. They had to attend Russian schools, and for higher education, perfect knowledge of Russian was required, limiting access to social mobility for non-Russian speakers. Moreover, they learned little about their national history, making it difficult for the Ukrainian people to find and express their own identity. This cultural assimilation went so far that everything typically Ukrainian, such as folk dances like the hopak or the kazachok, was often mistakenly called “Russian”. The immense economic value of Ukraine, both in terms of agricultural production and later industrial potential (coal, iron ore in the southeast ), made it an exceptionally coveted area for successive empires. This economic significance became a primary driver for imperial expansion, annexation, and the systematic suppression of Ukrainian independence movements. The desire to control Ukraine’s resources and industrial capacity was a fundamental, deeply rooted historical reason for Russian imperial ambitions towards the region, which it saw as an indispensable part of its own economic and strategic power. In contrast to the Russian part, only Galicia and Bukovina joined the Habsburg Empire in 1772. In the Habsburg Empire, and particularly at the University of Lemberg (Lviv), Ukrainian had more opportunities for development and recognition. The Habsburgs treated Ukrainians “much better” than the Russian rulers ever had, allowing for a relative cultural flourishing. Austria-Hungary was a multinational monarchy where Ukrainian (historically also known as Ruthenian) was one of the officially recognized languages, alongside German, Hungarian, Polish, and others. This contrasted sharply with the suppression in the Russian Empire. These contrasting experiences of Ukrainian territories under Russian and Habsburg rule are crucial. Russian-controlled Eastern Ukraine faced severe cultural and linguistic suppression, with a clear Russification policy aimed at integration as “Little Russia”. In stark contrast, Habsburg-controlled Western Ukraine offered a more tolerant environment where the Ukrainian language and culture could develop and even flourish, with more opportunities for education and cultural expression. This differential treatment directly influenced the nascent national awakening. In the 19th century, despite the suppression in the Russian part, space emerged for Ukrainian national identity. Influential figures such as the poet Taras Shevchenko and the political theorist Mykhailo Drahomanov played a crucial role in this national awakening. Because eastern Ukraine suffered greatly under the repressive regime of the Russian tsars, the national movement shifted from 1870 onwards to the west of the country, where more freedoms existed. By the end of the 19th century, the first Ukrainian political parties were founded here, some of which explicitly fought for an independent state. Nevertheless, around 1900, Ukrainians still lacked their own state, elite, and middle class, and the majority consisted of poor peasants. This historical difference is a crucial factor in understanding the lasting cultural, linguistic, and political differences between Eastern and Western Ukraine. The west developed a stronger, more overt national identity and political consciousness through greater freedom, while the east experienced deeper and more prolonged Russification. This historical legacy helps explain why pro-Western sentiments are historically stronger in the west and why parts of the east have maintained closer ties with Russia, influencing political developments and regional alignments to this day.

The Struggle for Independence and the Soviet Period (1917 – 1991)

World War I had a cataclysmic impact on Eastern Europe, leading to the end of the centuries-old Austro-Hungarian and Tsarist Russian empires. In the chaos that followed the February Revolution in the Russian Empire  and the October Revolution in Russia in 1917, the Ukrainian People’s Republic on former Russian territory first declared itself autonomous and later fully independent. At the same time, in former Austrian Galicia, Ukrainians also proclaimed their own state, which briefly led to the existence of two Ukrainian republics. On January 22, 1919, these two entities signed the unification into one Ukraine in Kyiv, giving the geographical region “the Ukraine” the status of a united country for the first time. However, this renewed independence was very short-lived and proved to be a fragile era. The Ukrainian War of Independence (1917-1921) was a series of military conflicts often viewed within the context of the Russian Civil War and the final phase of World War I. The two Ukrainian people’s republics hoped for self-governance and briefly cooperated, but were constantly overrun by forces from Germans, Poles, and Russians. The Polish-Ukrainian War (November 1918 to July 1919) was a significant conflict during this period. The Bolsheviks thwarted Ukraine’s full independence. A Bolshevik counter-government for Ukraine was set up in Moscow and gained increasing dominance from 1920 onwards, thanks to the military successes of the Red Army. The eastern part of Ukraine fell into the hands of the victorious Red Army in 1921. In 1922, the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic (Ukrainian SSR) officially became part of the newly formed Soviet Union, of which it was a co-founder. The far west of Ukraine, including the city of Lviv, was annexed by Poland. During the reign of Joseph Stalin (1922-1953), Soviet Ukraine underwent powerful and forced industrial development. The Bolsheviks introduced “gigantism” in industry, with the construction of enormous factories in the east, particularly in the Donbas region. The Donetsk region rested on three pillars: industry, coal, and agriculture. However, the forced collectivization of agricultural enterprises, where peasants had to surrender their land and possessions to state-owned farms, led to a catastrophic famine, the Holodomor, which lasted from 1932 to 1933. Between 5 and 10 million people died during the Holodomor. This famine is widely recognized as a “terror-famine” and an act of genocide, deliberately used to suppress Ukrainian nationalism and the prosperous peasant class (“kulaks”). It was also aimed at the destruction of the Ukrainian Autocephalous (independent) Orthodox Church and the replacement of the Ukrainian population with non-Ukrainians from the RSFSR and elsewhere. The Ukrainian parliament recognized the Holodomor as genocide in 2006, and 16 countries and 22 US states have since done so. World War II was devastating for the Soviet Union, and all of Ukraine quickly fell into German hands after the invasion on June 21, 1941. No country suffered as heavily from the war as Ukraine. As many as 700 cities and 28,000 villages were destroyed. The human toll was enormous: between 5.3 and 6.5 million people died , which amounts to more than a sixth of the Ukrainian population. The Holocaust hit Ukraine particularly hard, with 1.6 million of the 2.7 million Ukrainian Jews killed, including during massacres such as those in Babi Yar near Kyiv. Romania, which conquered southwestern Ukraine, murdered 220,000 to 260,000 Jews there, plus 10,000 to 20,000 Roma. Although a small part of Western Ukraine collaborated with the Germans , many Ukrainians quickly became anti-German due to their treatment as “Untermenschen” and several million fought in the Red Army. After the recapture of Ukraine by the Red Army in 1944, the 182,000 Crimean Tatars and 46,000 Greeks, Bulgarians, and Armenians were deported to Asia. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of August 23, 1939, assigned eastern Poland, and thus Western Ukraine, to the USSR. After World War II, as a result of the agreements in Yalta, the Ukrainian Soviet Republic gained 93,000 km² and 8 million people, including parts of Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia. This made Ukraine a nation-state of 580,000 km² and 41 million people for the first time, an outcome Stalin had unintentionally brought about. A massive population transfer followed, and unfortunately, the multicultural coexistence of Poles, Jews, and Ukrainians in the region also came to an end. Khrushchev claimed in 1956 that Stalin even considered deporting all 40 million Ukrainians, but did not do so because there were too many of them.
After World War II, Ukraine developed into one of the most important and prosperous socialist Soviet republics (SSRs) of the Soviet Union. It remained the “breadbasket” of the USSR and an important industrial zone. However, Russians occupied the top positions in Ukraine, emphasizing Moscow’s control over the republic. In 1954, Khrushchev, with parliamentary approval, gave Crimea to Ukraine, despite the fact that Russians were dominant there. The struggle for Ukrainian cultural identity continued. Although Ukrainian culture was heavily suppressed under the Tsarist regime and later under Stalin, it was given some space under Nikita Khrushchev, only to be severely repressed again under Leonid Brezhnev. Before independence, in the period 1990-1991, Ukrainian legislation took precedence over Soviet legislation. Gorbachev’s perestroika and glasnost  created an opening. Mass demonstrations took place in 1989, and Ukrainian was elevated to the official language instead of Russian. On August 24, 1991, after the coup in Moscow, Ukraine declared independence. A referendum confirmed this independence with a large majority of 90% of the votes. In 1991, Ukraine became an independent state for the first time, albeit “without a clear cultural identity”. In 1994, Russia recognized Ukraine’s borders, including Crimea.

Independence and Recent Conflicts (1991 – Present)

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and Ukraine’s subsequent independence, immediate problems and tensions arose with Russia and other CIS countries over the division of Soviet troops and materiel. Especially the nuclear warheads and the Black Sea Fleet were a source of great tension, which also led to Western concern about the proliferation of nuclear powers worldwide. Ukraine initially tried to gain full control over the Black Sea Fleet and all nuclear missiles on its own territory. However, the situation with the nuclear warheads was complicated, as the launch button and codes were located in Moscow. The problem of dividing the Black Sea Fleet proved even more complex, as the US was not involved, making it a chess game between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine invoked guarantees of territorial integrity and independence , while Russia pointed out that it had leased the ports of Sevastopol and Mykolaiv until 2017 for the Black Sea Fleet. After 1991, there was total chaos, with some ships and army units declaring themselves Ukrainian and others Russian. This was initially resolved with an interim treaty placing the fleet under joint command. Ultimately, Russia and Ukraine signed treaties on May 28, 1997, including one for the division of the fleet into two national parts.
The Orange Revolution in 2004-2005 was a crucial moment in Ukraine’s political history. The catalyst was the presidential elections, which were marred by suspicions of fraud. Supporters of Viktor Yushchenko were dissatisfied with the outcome, as Yushchenko was only 3 percent behind Viktor Yanukovych. This led to massive street protests, with even Ruslana, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, going on a hunger strike. The Supreme Court declared the last round of voting invalid, leading to new elections on December 26, 2004, in which the pro-Russian Yanukovych stood directly against the pro-Western Yushchenko. The election of Viktor Yushchenko as president marked a turning point, giving a strong impetus to democracy and civil liberties. The new government under Yushchenko sought closer ties with the EU and tried to reduce dependence on Russia. However, the Orange Revolution also led to division and political instability, which set back reforms and economic growth. Yanukovych would later become president in 2010 after all. The Euromaidan protests, also known as the Revolution of Dignity, began in late November 2013 after President Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign an association agreement with the European Union, opting instead for closer ties with Russia. These protests were more than a demand for EU integration; they were a rejection of endemic corruption, abuse of power, and nepotism. The government’s brutal crackdown on demonstrators escalated the conflict. On January 22, 2014, the first deaths occurred during clashes in Kyiv; in total, more than 100 mostly civilian demonstrators died. After Yanukovych fled on February 22, 2014, parliament voted for his impeachment and the organization of new elections, with Petro Poroshenko elected president in May 2014. The Euromaidan revolution led to the signing of the association agreement between the EU and Ukraine. In the aftermath of Euromaidan, unrest shifted to Crimea. On February 27 and 28, 2014, pro-Russian armed men seized key buildings in Crimea and took control of the peninsula, which has an ethnic Russian majority. On March 16, in a disputed referendum that Ukraine and the West considered illegal, a portion of the Crimean population voted to secede from Ukraine. On March 18, Russian and Crimean leaders signed an agreement in Moscow to join the region to Russia. Russia justified the annexation with arguments such as the protection of Russian citizens and troops, the right to self-determination of the population, and a comparison to the intervention in Kosovo. However, the international community, particularly the United States and the European Union, sharply condemned the annexation as a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and imposed sanctions on Russia. No state in the world, except Russia itself, recognizes the annexation of Crimea. Following the events in Crimea, pro-Russian uprisings also emerged in eastern Ukraine, supported by the Russian government, which would lead to the War in Eastern Ukraine (Donbas War). The war began in April 2014, when Russian paramilitaries seized several cities. Ukrainian authorities have gathered evidence that these demonstrations were organized by Russian citizens collaborating with Kremlin-linked politicians in Ukraine. Armed men without insignia, led by former Russian FSB officer Igor Girkin, took over government buildings in Donetsk and Luhansk. The war in Donbas is not a civil war, as it was provoked and coordinated by Russia. International organizations and journalists have found direct evidence of Russia’s involvement, including the presence of Russian military personnel and weapons. On July 17, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down by separatists, killing all 298 occupants. The conflict in Donbas led to thousands of deaths, a humanitarian crisis, and a large displaced population. The lead-up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was characterized by a series of escalating tensions and military buildups, beginning in the spring of 2021. Russia repeatedly denied invasion plans, despite the military buildup. The US released intelligence in December 2021 suggesting a planned Russian invasion. Russia put strict security demands on Ukraine, NATO, and the EU, including a legally binding promise that Ukraine would never join NATO, and threatened military action in response to what it considered an ‘aggressive line’ from NATO and the US. In the weeks leading up to the invasion, shelling escalated in the Donbas, with analysts suggesting that many actions were staged pretexts by Russia to justify the invasion.
On February 21, 2022, President Putin officially recognized the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, followed by the deployment of Russian troops to the Donbas under the guise of a ‘peacekeeping mission’. This intervention was internationally condemned. On February 22, 2022, the Federation Council of Russia unanimously authorized Putin to use military force outside Russia. Ukraine announced conscription for reservists and later a national state of emergency and general mobilization of army reservists. Russian embassies in Kyiv were evacuated, and Ukrainian government and bank websites were hit by DDoS attacks, attributed to Russian-backed hackers.
On February 24, 2022, Putin announced a “special military operation” in Ukraine, aiming to protect the population in Donbas from “genocide by the Kyiv regime” and to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine. Putin denied Ukraine’s right to exist as an independent country and saw it as a country with “limited sovereignty”. Almost immediately thereafter, Russian ground forces invaded Ukraine from Russia, the occupied Ukrainian territories, and neighboring Belarus. The invasion led to the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II, with millions of Ukrainians fleeing or becoming displaced. Ukraine filed a lawsuit against Russia at the International Court of Justice in February 2022, which ordered Russia to cease all military activities, but this was not complied with.

Conclusions

The history of Ukraine is inextricably linked to its geographical position as a “borderland,” a status that has produced both vulnerability to external domination and a deep-seated resilience and striving for independence. From the early Kyivan Rus’, claimed by both Russia and Ukraine as the origin of their state, to centuries of struggle under Polish-Lithuanian and Russian rule, Ukraine has been constantly torn between different spheres of influence. The rise of the Cossacks symbolized an indigenous desire for autonomy, but their search for protection from the Russian Tsar paradoxically led to further Russian expansion and the formal division of the country along the Dnieper. This historical dichotomy has created lasting cultural and political differences between Eastern and Western Ukraine, which remain relevant to this day.
The Soviet period, characterized by forced industrialization and the catastrophic Holodomor, was an attempt to suppress Ukrainian national identity and fully integrate the country into the Soviet structure. World War II brought unprecedented destruction and demographic losses, but ironically also resulted in the territorial unification of the Ukrainian SSR, albeit under Soviet control. The renewed independence in 1991 opened a new chapter, but immediately brought challenges, such as the division of Soviet assets and ongoing Russian claims to influence. The Orange Revolution and the Euromaidan protests demonstrated the growing pro-Western aspirations of the Ukrainian people and their rejection of corruption and authoritarianism. However, these developments were seen by Russia as a threat to its sphere of influence, leading to the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the start of the war in Donbas. The Russian invasion of 2022 is a direct escalation of this long-standing conflict, with Russia explicitly challenging the historical legitimacy of the Ukrainian state and attempting to deny its sovereignty. The current struggle is therefore not only a conflict over territory but an existential struggle for Ukrainian national identity and the right to self-determination, deeply rooted in centuries of complex and often tragic history