A Brief History Of Ukraine (And Why Russia Wants To Control It) 

I listened to an interview with Kryuschev’s son where he clearly stated that control over crimea was given over to Ukraine because it was one of the most impoverished regions at that time and needed a local government to start managing it.

I learned just this year that I have Ukrainian in my history and culture. I am 64 years old. my 87 y o dad emailed me a map of farmland showing 1 plat of farm land to have our last name. It had something to do with Czar Katerina offering farmland to German settlers. I was told since my earliest days that I and my 4 siblings were 100% German. Apparently when a folllowing czar kicked them off the land, they came to the United States. My fa, landed in S Dakota. Im trying to learn more about the post- Roman, pre-Christian Germanic/ medieval history of my German culture.

Ironically, if you want a popular culture analogy for the destruction of Chernobyl and how that destroyed the USSR as a state; forever ending Russian control over Ukraine: look to "Star Trek VI: the Undiscovered Country"- it is really something of a perfect analogy set in space: Gorbechev is Chancelor Gorkon, Praxis is Chernobyl; it fits to a T; and was filmed at the same time-period as those events, specifically the end of the Cold War in both cases.

Rurik the Swede is probably the reason for the name Rus-Kiyv. Kiyv was an important trade city when Rurik and his two brothers arrived. Kyiv is centuries older than anything "Rus"

well, Western Ukraine was annexed into USSR territory during WW2 after Soviet Invasion of Poland. Before that that western area was mainly a part of Austro-Hungarian Empire, so not Russia. That's quite important factor, as this part (around Lviv) is staunchly pro-Western.

It is very difficult to summarise a 1,000 plus history in 18 minutes but but overall you touched on many of the main events.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana (1863)

Can bashers make their own version of Ukraine history please? I’ll be glad to watch your own version.

In this video there aren't mentioned such vital points of Ukraine's history as the principality of Halych-Volyn, the emerge of Cossacks and their uprisings (which didn't have joining Russia as their main goal), the Cossack Hetmanate and Zaporozhian Sich. It wouldn't be so difficult to tell about that. However, a part of video is dedicated to the Crimean War, which relates to Russia's history, not that of Ukraine. Ukraine itself didn't fight the Crimean War, the Russian Empire did. I understand this is called 'brief history' but 'brief' doesn't mean 'inaccurate' or 'partial'.

An excellent documentary that gives a clear understanding of key events in Ukraines history. The people of central Europe have had a raw deal over the past 1000 years when it comes to unrest war, famine and genocide. It is particularly sad that in 2023 we have yet another mad dictator in Europe who is making territorial demands on neighbouring countries. I hope that somehow a resolution can be found in 2023 although I suspect not.

The video missed many important moments from the history of Ukraine. Even within the framework of a short retelling of the history and situation of Ukraine.

As a Canadian the mistake people always make here when they see a bear 🐻, it’s always strikingly beautiful and Friendly looking, compared to when you see a Mountain Lion often they take the initiative and lunge a bear may approach cautiously or none nonchalantly walk away but if you poke it it can kill with a single punch.

A sentence explaining the deportation of the Tartars of Crimea in WW2 & the date descendants were allowed to return from exile (1990's) was the omission i noticed (English). Of course a population whose parents & gparents came since ww2 are going to tend to sympathise with Russia but the Crimean Tartars genocided by Stalin can't vote.

many historical things are left out in the video, the Varangian Rus settled in Veliky Novgorod in 862 under the leadership of Rurik, the expansion of the Russian Empire, and on and on...

Much is not said, some things are mixed up and changed. It seems that the author read a couple of short articles about different aspects of the Ukrainian history, then tried to combine them without delving into the topic and important details

There are gas reserves in the grounds of east and north-east Ukraine. Traces have also been found in the Black Sea.

I would love, for an average Russian, to actually talk to me, civilly, and explain the perceived threat that nato and the west poses to them. As I, as an average “westerner” want nothing more than to exist in peace with all! PS this is actually an open request for dialogue if such a Russian sees this message!

I was under the impression that some western parts of modern Ukraine were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end of WW1. They then became part of the re-established nation of Poland, and didn't become part of the USSR until WW2, which likely made integration into a Russian - ruled Soviet Union even more difficult for the Ukrainian people in that part of the country. Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

Ok slow down, wait a second...so Vikings sailed from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea? I want to see a whole video on how that works!

My dad‘s family is Ukrainian; I’ve been able to trace our lineage back to the late 1700s. In 1926, my great-grandparents immigrated to Canada ahead of the Holodomor, but lost many family members in the intentional starvation of over 10 million people. Dido (my great-grandfather) lived to be 103, and so I grew up listening to his stories of his life in Ukraine. This video taught me even more than what I’ve read on my own about the history of Ukraine. Thanks for posting this! ❤️🇺🇦

Even brothers separate to form their own families. It should not be annoying to see regions separating and forming their own countries. Circumstances and occasions occur to warrant these separations.

It is a complicated history. But the bottom line seems to be the emergence of a unified new country with historical ties to Russia that seeks to retain both its independence and ties with the West. Many people in the US do not understand the richness of its agricultural resources and certain areas of manufacturing that have entwined it in the global economy. We are feeling the effects of that even in our own prices in the US as the economy of Ukraine is TEMPORARILY shut down.

Their interest in Ukraine was not complex nor historical. Their interest in Ukraine was for one simple reason: energy. It’s why they made an immediate B line for all three major energy production facilities in Europe.

Totally miss the story about the energy resources in East and south Ukraine..

Cossacks were fighting against moskovits together with lithuanians and treaty in 1654 was signed only because hetman had no choice he needed assistance in the war against poles and this decision was quite unpopular among elites. Cossacks were never favouring moscow. This page is so important in ukrainian history and this video says almost nothing about hetmanat, viisko zaporizske and cossacks.

In 1922, South Bessarabia was part of Romania (7:42) Ukraine was the most privileged republic compared to other republics of the former Soviet Union and was enlarged to the west with the help of the Russians on the lands of other peoples (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania). Learn history well.

History is always written in the Blood of the Innocent. This current battle is just beginning 😔

the map of ukraine from 1922 is not accurate, the territory was much smaller until 1945.

This guy makes great video!! Kudos. Dialogue so succinct and pertinent and narrates the video perfectly.

Ukraine has been through a whole lot. damn

You missed or should I say under-stressed several events of the last forty years. Like the Russian navel bases in Crimea and the water supply issues that occured when Ukraine turned off the fresh water supply to them after Russia violated the treaty they signed a few years earlier.

This is a good compilation of most historical facts about Ukraine, however seems to miss some important facts. The choice of colors in the maps is unfortunate since land looks like ocean and vice versa for people unfamiliar with the region

This of course is a Tribal member's interpretation of history, which means they have an agenda of their own.

I like how you casually ignore how Ukraine wasn't so keen on being Soviet. There was an internal struggle. So it makes no impact that Ukraine was a founding state of the USSR as they were puppets of Russia.

Wasn't there 2 main rivals in the modern Ukrainian/Belarusian/Russian territories during the Viking age period? The Duchy/kingdom of Novgorod (Modern St. Petersburg) and the Duchy/Kingdom of Kiev? Both were founded by Swedish vikings when some decided to settle in these Slavic lands. You had ofcourse other smaller duchies/kingdoms like Moscow and others, but they were insignificant compared to these other 2 duchies/kingdoms at that time? Why wasn't that mentioned in this video and covered? From what I learn and understood, the novgorod/kiev rivalty conflict could be compared with the northern Egyptian kingdom vs the southern Egyptian kingdom in ancient times. Sometimes the other were more powerful than the other, sometimes they were separated as 2 individual entities and sometimes unified as one grand duchy/kingdom. I might be wrong about this, if anybody has more deeper knowledge about this, then let me know!

Completely disagree with the analogy that Ukraine to Russia is Cuba to the US. Russia always had the west at its doorstep. The US did not have the east at its - until Cuba received missiles.

Congratulations 👏 you are a Text book 📖 superb narrative, concise, and clear . I lived in London, some of my friends are a bit allergic to European English.

If the European countries don’t get their fingers out and send some real meaningful help to the brave Ukrainian people it’s going to be a very brief history indeed.

Very informative, liked this

I could have missed it… but where is the root of the prominence of the Ukraine?? You just briefly mention the Cossacks and then from no where say the Ukrainian language was banned… but don’t shed any light on how Ukraine and its language came to be proliferated?? Feels like an important aspect of this history is missing.

Seems like it has always been a battlefield.

Thank you. I have learned a lot. I like learning about history. Greetings from Canada.

I would like to see more about the start of the result of the recent conflict, especially 2014 onward.

Back in the first part of the 1900s my grandfather's family members all started on a trip to leave the then Soviet occupied Ukraine just outside of the capital it took them 3 years to escape they lost the life of my grandfather's uncle and his sister at the sadistic hands of Russian troops my grandfather told me he had spent his whole life wishing he could return to his homeland but it just wasn't safe for him to return I grew up wanting to go to the Ukraine my wife and I were actually talking about going to the Ukraine with the ideas of seeing if we could move there and spend the rest of our lives as Ukrainian citizens we were pricing out our return to the Ukraine when the demon possessed Putin let the devil himself talk him into attacking the people of the Ukraine

This helps me realise why the Chinese see the war in Ukraine as a fight between neighbours over where the garden fence is placed.

Very interesting and very informative, showing a complexity that actually makes every possible solution impossible. History is a bitch, reality is another. The russia-Ukraine problem has an easy solution though. A starting point is that no past historical states can be reestablished unless all parts want it. So the Soviet Union can not be reestablished, because then the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Serbian Empire, the Third Reich, the British Empire, and so on and on would have right to do whatever it would take. Even Sweden once was a mini superpower, fighting in what is russia today. To conclude: Russian leaders should be satisfied with having the worlds biggest state and leave Ukraine to decide its own future. An other thing: living together in a small world makes some giving and taking. And as we can see, even the worlds biggest state can be crushed by its own egocentrism and stupidity because the rest of the world is not a bunch of idiots

Decent compendium but role of Poland in Western Ukraine up to 17.09.1939 is completely neglected.

The only thing we learned about war from history is that we never learn. -someone I can't remember

I think the more important question is. Is Europe now finally see why the US Government what to hold the region? I mean how's the economics now a days?

As the video hints and the comments highlight, Ukraine has been subject to a lot of upheavals in its history, being as it is a geographic crossroads between East and West. I think as Ukraine became more important as a food exporter to the world, it really should have been a top-priority of the Ukrainian government to pump funds (35% of its GDP) into its military and defensive capabilities to protect its national treasure which is food production (and in so doing it protects its sovereign territory and national interests). It speaks volumes to the incredible ineptitude and stupefying blindness that the Ukrainian government didn't recognise national defence as a priority until it was invaded by Putin's forces. I hope now that with the influx of imported defensive weaponry, military training (combined with the people's indomitable fighting spirit) and how these have helped turn the tide against the Russian invaders, that every future Ukrainian will see that the funding of a large well-trained and well-equipped national defensive military force is more important than ever realised, and should be in future the top-priority of every elected Ukrainian government to guard its national interests, territory and food production. It's pure madness and idiocy not to recognise that Ukraine, by its history and location, has been and always will be the subject of dreadful upheavals, because it sits at a crossroads between powerful Eastern and Western forces. Only a massive professional defensive army can guarantee stability in such a crucial region as Ukraine, the success of such rests upon its leaders not being boastful, hostile, stupid or otherwise forgetful of its precarious position as a crossroads between two ginormous powers.

Thank you for an excellent overview that I can share.

make a video on why NATO wants to control it and how they own it

Very simplified. The territory of Ukraine that became part of the USSR was much larger, including Kuban, which was later exchanged for Crimea. Also, Ukraine was the largest supplier of gas to Europe, and has a lot of oil. This is one of the reasons for Moscow's attack, because it got out of its control.

So interesting... to me, and well done... with this Russian-Ukraine’s history. Thank you from southern Colorado USA. 💛..😇🇺🇸..🧸..💜..🐓

Ukraine was a big part of the USSR although they were not so keen on it at first they had a large role in the development of the country good and bad seeing as that they were the 2nd most powerful republic/state/region within the USSR.

If I was to make a BRIEF video about Ukraine history, I would spend most of the time on key points showing formation of the nation (if it ever existed as such separately from Russians). Rulers, culture, language, territory emergence (as a separate nation) and expansion. There is no point in showing 20th century history in such detail (half of the video). There should be a specific message too, supported by facts throughout, making the video consistent. Otherwise, you should have merely shown the borders of an independent country called Ukraine dynamics (started after the Bolsheviks' revolution) or who this land was under throughout the history (facts), without going into political controversies. This kind of video would not take more than 10-15 minutes with all the details.

"Precisely why there is a dispute over the sovereignty or otherwise of Ukraine is a complex question rooted in the region's history" And there was me thinking it had something to do with its huge riches in metals and massive untapped natural gas reserves that threaten EU dependency on Russian supply.

Wish I'd seen this ages ago!

When Russia took over the position of the USSR in the UN, it recognized the legitimacy of Ukraine's sovereignty. That cuts of the legal theories regarding their right to exist as a separate country.

In Western historiography, terms “Russia” in English, “Russie” in French, “Russland” in German designates indiscriminately the Kyivan state (Rus’) from the 10th to the 13th century, the Grand Duchy of Moscow (Muscovy) from the 14th to the 17th century, the Empire of Peter the Great (who artificially introduced a Greek spelled term Rossiia for the new empire, having adopted the name from the Old Rus’, i. e. Ukraine) and of his successors from the 18th century to the 20th century. This has led to many misconceptions in historical literature and to a great confusion of ideas. For instance, originally, the term Rus’ in its geographico-ethnical meaning referred to Kyiv area and all sources agree on that. It should be stressed that Rus’ was primarily a geographical and ethnic term bound to a certain territory in Ukraine. Let us take some examples from the Primary Chronicle to illustrate the problem: Under the year 1152 it is said of the meeting of the Kyivan Prince Izyaslav with the king of Hungary: I. 1152 A.D. And they went away, the King to his country, Hungary, and Izyaslav to the land of Rus’. Or other examples: II. 1180 A.D.: Prince Svyatoslav, son of Vsevolod…marched from Rus’ to Suzdal (city near Moscow in modern Russia) III. 1193 A.D.: Svyatoslav sent his envoys to Riurik (to Ovruch) and said to him: Come now to Rus’….; Riurik…came with all his troops to Rus’ IV. 1231 A.D.: Danylo (of Halych) captured the town of Torchesk (in modern Central Ukraine) belonging to the land of Rus’. V. 1132 A.D.: In this year, Vsevolod went forth (from Novgorod) to Rus’, to Pereyaslavl’. VI. 1141 A.D.: Fleeing from Novgorod, Svyatoslav went to Rus’, to his brother… VII. 1140 A.D. Mstislav, Prince of Kyiv, summoned the Prince of Polotsk to Rus’… VIII. 1147 A.D. …Go to Smolensk…I order you not to stay in the land of Rus’. IX. 1175 A.D.: (At the moment of Andrew’s death) his little son was staying at Novgorod and his brothers were in Rus’. 8 X. 1152 A.D.: Yuri went forth with the men of Rostov, Suzdal and Ryazan to Rus’…. It appears from these quotations that Rus’ is obviously a geographical term. It implies above all the territory of Kyiv. We see also that, the above cited cities of Novgorod, Ryazan, Rostov, Smolensk, Polotsk and Suzdal (all in modern Russia and Belarus) were not in Rus’. Nestor stresses the dependence of these lands on Rus’ (Kyiv territory), contrasting these conquered territories. The bulk of the settlements in the territory of Kyiv were concentrated in the triangle formed by the Dnieper and its tow western tributaries, the Irpin’ and the Ros’). On the left bank of the Dnieper, Rus’ consisted of two provinces: those of Chernihiv and of Pereyaslavl’. The southern and eastern boundaries of the Pereyaslavl were fluid disappearing into the steppes. There is no doubt that the geographical notion of Rus’ originated in the land of Kyiv, which was a political centre.9 The Ukrainians (Українці or Ruthenians - Русини in older definition) may well claim to be the “original Rus’ians”. Theirs was the land where St. Cyril and St. Methodius converted the Slavic peoples in the 9th century, and that land, with Kyiv as the centre, became the starting point of Greco-Slavic Christianity. From 988 onwards it was the religious and political capital of whole Rus’. Great Russia (what we know today as Russia) was then merely a conglomerate, of Swedish, Finnish, and Slavic tribes. Kyivan Rus’ was Ukrainian state and Ukrainians are inheritors and continuers in modern times. But in reality the fight for Kyivan inheritance led to paradoxical results: Ukrainians not only lost their state but also Ukraine´s original name Rus’ was overtaken by northern winner - Moscow. Having named itself Russia (Rossiya) in 1721 or Great Russia (Великороссия - Velikorosiya), the Muscovy (Московия) claimed itself as inheritor of medieval (Kyivan) Rus’ state and claimed by this "sobiraniye zemel Russkikh" (gathering of Russian lands). Despite the fact that Moscow state historically represented different formation from Kyivan state, the northern tribe of Muscovites took over the name Rus’ after the Mongol invasion, and referred to its ties with the old Kyivan dynasty. o The word "Rus’" has been used by Greeks in their chronicles as long ago as II century A.D. o Arabs in mid-8th century were very specific in defining the location of Rus’ as a Kingdom on the middle Dnieper around Kyiv, in the lands of an Eastern Slav Polyanians tribe. Interestingly, the Varangians do not appear in Kyiv until 860 AD, in fact, their first arrival in Rus’ lands is dated at around 750 AD in Staraya Ladoga. o River Ros' flows through the lands populated by a Slavic tribal union of Polyanians at the centre of the future Kyivan Rus’, in the area directly adjacent to Kyiv. o When Andrey, the prince of Vladimir (city and principality in Muscovy) planned an attack on Kyiv, he said that he was "going against the Rus’". This and other evidence supports the opinion that even in Kyivan Rus’, the word "Rus’" implied the Southern Rus’ lands, namely the principalities of Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Pereyaslavl' (possibly, even Halych and Volhyn). Question then is why would one not use the word Rus’ for Novgorod, where Riurik had taken up power initially. One of the greatest objections to the "Rus’" being Norse comes from Scandinavia itself. Rus’ lands were well known to the Norse. They called it Garðariki, the land of castles or cities, and spoke in glowing terms of its wealth. The Kyivan royal house had a number of connections with Scandinavian dynasties.

I was expecting to see a well-made research, but instead it was a video with many skipped essential parts of Ukrainian history,

To add one more missing part - the proclamation of independency of Ukraine People’s Republics in 1918, which was occupied by soviets So that it wouldn’t look like whole nation just joined USSR

Isn't Russia simply freeing the Donbas region from Ukraine? Because they chose to be Russian back in 2014?

neat. helps me understand the long-term picture of it all. THANKS

Yanukovich couldn't have been replaced by Yuschenko. He was in power after the latter.

Thanks, you've cleared so much up.

Sadly you are wrong about "rus" . In the area of Uppland also knownas Rolsagen the Swedish vikings were known as Rusers ( there of russia), Russia got the name from a small tribe of the Swedish vikings. Regards/Björn

You do well, Bro, history repeat itself.

Information on the development of a Ukrainian culture and language would help to explain the Ukrainian desire for independence.

⚔️I’ve asked myself “ Mr Putin has reminisced fuel supplies from the Ukraine as well as parts of Europe: Ukraine has wheat for Russia! So why not cut as much Supplys of wheat from them, as is, the percentage of fuel they keep from Ukrainians?”

This is a great explanation...simplified...

8:45 what made the person preparing the map to leave the borders of Kaliningrad oblast after 45 is a mystery to me.

Not even a word about Galician-Volyn principality. Not even a word about the king Danylo who was the rightful king of Rus and heir of the Rurik dynasty, who build a lot of cities in the eastern part of Rus like Lviv and who was the only ruler of so-called Rus states who kept on fighting the Golden hord unlike nothern states who just gave up and paid tribute. Not even a word about Zaporozhian Sich and famous cossack hetmans. You could have mentioned Bohdan Khmelnitsky at least. Ukranian identity began to emerge more fully in 19th century, really? And what in your opinion our ancestors were doing before that time? They lived on this land and spoke their own language and were fighting for their identity. You've made good short documentary, but I'm really pissed that after the destraction of Kievan Rus you have a blank space like ukranians never existed and then they suddenly "emerge" only in 19th century.

Very good on the economic motives for Russian invasion, which is my primary take on this invasion - all the brotherly love stuff is a convenient excuse, as was the annexation of Crimea (Sevastopel - the only all round, unfrozen port for its fleet that Russia was in danger of losing access to). Alongside the wheat, aren't there also considerable gas reserves in the country which Western technology would enable Ukraine to tap?

BRIEF being the key word 🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺

"Brief history of Ukraine" - yeah, well, it can't be a long one, afterall it's a country that existed for 30 years Also I couldn't help but notice that Stepan Bandera is missing from your version of history

This is a great short documentary. However, I am also looking for a documentary about the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. Does anyone know of a really good documentary about the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth?

There is an excellent "Historical Novel" which gives even more insight to the Ukrainian/ Russian saga. "RUSKA"....

Nothing about the Natural gas reserves (including large, off-shore deposites around the Crimean peninsular) that were found not long before Ukraine moved to make closer ties with the EU in 2014, lessening the EU and most to NATO's reliance on Russia for energy & heating during the winter AND threatening the profits of an industry that makes up around 1/3 of the Russian economy?

Very nice job. Complex history.

Some specific, pivotal points, details regarding the Rise of Ukraine. "Out of the chaos into which Russia fell after the Revolution of the February1917, a NEW NATION now emerges - the "Ukrainian People's Republic." "Dismembered Russia- Some of the Fragments" "The New York Times" February 1918 Canadian scholar Orest Subtelny about this newly emerged Nation - Ukraine: "In 1919 total chaos engulfed Ukraine. Indeed, in the modern history of Europe no country experienced such complete anarchy, bitter civil strife, and total collapse of authority as did Ukraine at this time. Six different armies..., operated on its territory. Kyiv changed hands five times in less than a year. Cities and regions were cut off from each other by the numerous fronts. Communications with the outside world broke down almost completely. The starving cities emptied as people moved into the countryside in their search for food." Newly emerged Ukraine struggled for survival till November 1921. This turmoil resulted in the division of Ukraine between the Bolshevik Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia. Fragments, absorbed by Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia didn't get any kind of autonomy ever. And only in the frame of the Soviet Union , newly emerged Nation - Ukraine was granted the Autonomy. The Ukrainian Soviet Republic was proclaimed as an integral part of the Soviet Union, created in 1922. And Attention! The same way newly emerged "Donetsk Krivorozsk Republic", with the capital in Kharkov, historically Russian industrial hub of Russian Empire - Donbass, proclaimed in 1917 originally as part of Russian Federation! on the Demand of Lenin, it was also included in the new artificial construct of the Soviet Ukraine. Such way Historically Russian Donbass became the part of the Soviet Ukraine Moreover, the Northern Coastal land of Black Sea, with all these strategically important, jarbor9 ports, beautiful cities - Odessa, Kherson, Ochakov, Mariupol to name a few, which were founded, developed, and flourishing in the time of Russian Empire when Ukraine didn't exist yet, this strategically important Northern Coastal land of the Black Sea was also included in the Soviet Ukraine on the demand of Lenin! In 1939 and 1945 Stalin included in the Soviet Ukraine the Western territories. Crimea was annexed by Russia 240 years ago, when Ukraine didn't exist yet "The Ottoman Empire was defeated by Catherine the Great, Russia. Crimea was traded to Russia as part of the treaty provisions and was annexed in 1783. After two centuries of conflicts, the Russian fleet had destroyed the Ottoman navy and the Russian army had inflicted heavy defeats on the Ottoman land forces". And there was NO Ukraine, it simply didn't exist. There were 12 wars between Russia and Ottoman Empire, and each time Crimea and Northern Coastal land of Black Sea, which as a whole was marked on the map of Russian Empire as Taurida Governorate - for centuries it was recognized as an integral part of Russia, demonstrated increased Russia's power in the Black Sea areas and the territories of the Northern Coastal land. Since 1783 Crimea was part of Russia, until Nikita Khrushchev, in 1954 decided to make a present of it to Ukrainian Soviet Republic - at time it was an internal transaction, could be seen as meaningless legally and politically, because Ukraine was an integral part of the Soviet Union".. and important! nobody ever cared about people of Crimea, nobody asked if they liked it if they wanted to become part of the Ukraine..

Fractions of history repeating itself

A lot of interesting details, missing much important points, such as the gifting of the Crimea to Ukraine by Kruschev in 1960. It also barely mentions Ukraine's manufacturing prowess and natural resources, as well as having per capita, more nuclear powerplants than any country in the world.

'A thousands years of sacrifice taints our people' Boris Serbina

Great summary! Thanks.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - Unknown source (some time in the past)

My favorite part was the commercials about The History of Ukraine between the ads.

Grateful... even if posters do mention needed considerations - is good to see. I only wonder - learning new things here.

Thank you. I love this about the history of Ukraine and Russia

Ukraine is the definition of "Vassal State." But NOW, we should get behind the idea of Ukraine independence... as long as they depend on us.

For goodness sake, people. It is titled A Brief History of Ukraine. Brief means that some things will be left out. This video does not purport to be the COMPLETE history of Ukraine.

Just what was needed - thanks

Russian Empire stole the name, Russian Empire came out from Moscovia. Poland and Lithuania also could call themselves Russia then, since they had Rus territories at some point.

The phase "mother of rus cities" is believed to be a poor translation from the notes of the Byzantine Empire which were the main info source of the chronicle that mentioned this phrase. it should've been metropoly ("metropolis") not mater poli ("mother of cities").

Very interesting. I would enjoy an update.

To all who watched this you either like it or hate it ,it depends whether you’re pro Russian or pro Ukrainian so hear and see what you want to see or hear.

Fantastic summary. Thanks for posting it!

Land called "Kievan Rus" never existed. It was a term created by Russian historians in the 19th century to describe a historical period when Kiev was the center of Rus.

Thank you very much for producing this very interesting history and the conflicts that existed between countries.

Halford MacKinder, the father of British geopolitics, proposed that the British Empire use geopolitics to seize control of the "Eurasian Heartland" which MacKinder identified as the World Island. (British control of Russia) And as his theory goes, whoever controls the World Island, controls the World. If you read MacKinder's report on this subject and put it in the context of what has transpired since US/EU/NATO actions beginning in the Fall of 2013, in Ukraine, you will get what I am driving at. Zbigniew Brezinsky grasped the importance of Halford MacKinder's theory, suggesting that Ukraine be brought into the orbit of NATO. And that if Ukraine no longer represented a soft buffer between NATO and Russia, NATO would have the edge in a proxy war against Russia. Thus the eventuality of seizing control of Russia would be in sight. All NATO would have to do is avoid direct nuclear conflict with Russia for as long as it would take to bleed Russia white. The problem with playing out Britain's Great Game is the fact that Boris Yeltsin was succeeded by Vladimir Putin. And Putin is committed to the defense of Matuska Rus by all means at Russia's disposal. This means that civilization is being held hostage in a Thermonuclear chicken game that US/UK/NATO is intent on playing.