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Early 600s – eastern Slavics settled near the Dnieper river, where Vikings on route to Constantinople made temporary stations and were welcomed by the Slavic. The Slavic’s asking for protection from the north and east and Vikings interest in the culture caused them to completely mix cultures (called the Kyivan Rus)

869 – prince Rurik established this 7 century long dynasty in Novgorod.

882 – Oleg, Rukiks successor, expanded the empire down the Dnieper river, taking Kiev and making it the capital in the process

950s – princess Olga of Kiev converted to Christianity after visiting Constantinople. Now recognized as a saint and for introducing Christianity to the Rus.

980s - Grand prince Volodymyr wanted to marry the byzantine princess because politics. He would be allowed to if he converted to Christianity and he obliged. This baptism had a massive impact on the Kyivan Rus: spread of Christianity, use of Cyrillic alphabet, new schools and churches built.

1000s – grand prince Yaroslav the wise made a new legal code and increase in literary culture, causing a golden age.

1054 – after Yaroslav’s death, the state decentralized. Dnieper trade slowed and treasury being all used up because of wars (on the east and infighting between princes) caused Kyivan Rus to lose their initial power

1132 – state officially split after a grand prince passed away and local lords wanted more land for more power. Novgorod and Vladimir becoming their own states, now separate from Kiev.

1199/1253 – promoted by the pope, Galicia and Volhynian combined into one state called Ruthenia (the early name for Ukraine)

1272 – made Lviv capital. Trade routes with Poland, Hungary, byzantine, Mongols

1238/1240 – Mongols conquer Moscow and Kyiv. Things that weren’t directly absorbed was made into a vassal, which Poland and Lithuania took all of

1400 – Poland’s empire stretching to the coast (bilgorod), and Lithuania with the Dnieper valley. Here starts Ukraine’s cage of being at the border of empires!! Lithuania and Poland made everybody and everything more polish. Surprisingly, unable to reach everyone. The orthodox ethnic Ukrainian of Cossacks made ‘the wild fields’ to the south east to keep their Ukrainian culture

1600s – no longer seasonal hunting communities. Now self-governing-democracy. Now sandwiched between Poland, Russian, and ottoman empire. Poland liked when they fought off the ottomans. Poland also liked keeping autonomy from the Cossacks.

1648 - Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, a leading hetman, took down the polish crown and created the Cossack hetmanate. The first time Ukraine got to be an independent state in over 300 years

1667 – had flimsy alliances with neighbors until Russia split Ukraine with them and Poland

1772 – Russia takes all of Ukraine, and Poland while they’re at it. Wanted to make new places they conquered more Russian (sending out native Russians, banning Ukrainian language) an Austrian held Galicia was the only place polish and Ukrainians could express their national identity with literature

1917 – Russian empire explodes itself

1917/1921 – Ukraine and others declare themselves independence states again,

1921/1930 – Ukraine is added to the USSR bc of the tsars, still its own state. Cultural differences celebrated by USSR at first (building churches, promoting Ukrainian language) until Stalin. He ordered for all wheat grown in Ukraine to be exported for industrialization, purposefully creating a famine, killing over 4 million

1939 – Russia invades Poland and adds the Galicia to the Ukrainian SSR

1941 – Germany launches an attack, taking the entirety of Ukraine. Soviets burned, killed political prisoners, destroyed infrastructure, and destroyed food supplies as revenge on the Germans. By the time the USSR got itself back together, WWII was over, and 8 million more Ukrainians had been killed.

1989 – the Chernobyl disaster destroys takes place

1991 – USSR falls apart, Ukraine is given independence again with a 92% vote in favor of it.

2004/2014 – Ukrainians take to the streets in an uprise again the political corruption caused by Viktor Yanukovych. The Crimean Peninsula is taken by Russia. The ukranian-russo war begins

2018 – Russian orthodox church breaks off from the orthodox Constantinople church for its recognition of Ukraine having religious independence from Moscow

2022 – Russia starts a ground invasion in Ukraine

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Ukraine has a semi presidential republic with a unicameral branch, prime minister, and a cabinet of ministers.

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Ukraine has great farm land and is known as the bread basket of Europe. though it varies throughout regions, it is considered to be a wealthy country with the north east being the richest region

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its very common for people to get married young and have children. its very rare to find a family with a lot of kids. familys have very strong connections.

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though Ukrainian is the official language, because of their history Ukrainians understand Russian very well, often speaking both languages. they are very formal and indirect when speaking unless its with family

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going outside and playing sports are very popular in Ukraine. walking, going on hikes, mountain cycling, bike riding, playing soccer. watching theatre, the opera, and music groups are also popular pass times

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in 2014 the Russo-Ukrainian war started after Russia took the Crimean peninsula. in 2022 Russia began a ground invasion on Ukraine

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Ivan Puluj created the first ever X-Ray, 14 years before Roentgen Wilhelm. but he never patented his design.

Fedir Perotskyi created a way to conduct an electric current onto a railway, causing the cart to move in 1880

Volodymyr Melnikov made ecological fuel for cars. he uses wasted wood and documents his projects online

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modern Ukrainians practice Christianity with mixed with their folk customs. They also take superstitions very seriously, and have many famous saints

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the official religion of Ukraine is orthodox Christianity

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Ukrainians are very loyal people. they have very strong family connections, with the grandmother being of the highest respect. religion also plays a very important part of life

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hearty stews are very popular foods in Ukraine, with borshch being the most well known. other popular foods include varenyky, nolubtsi, and srynyky.

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the traditional clothing of Ukraine is an embroidered shirt called a vyshyvanka

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taking public transportation is very common in Ukraine with buses, metros, and railways. Ukraine has some of the most up to date a high-quality public transport in the world

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houses are often made out of concrete or cement. they never have a basement but its common to have an attic, houses and apartments will often have tiny balconies. if people have a backyard, it will be used as a garden to grow fruits and vegetables. the higher your fence, the better. its very important that you do not whistle inside the house, its a superstition that means you will lose money

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folk dancing, music, and art are still popular in Ukraine. as well as electric, hip hop, pop, the common music genres.

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Ukraine has invented some military weapons like the zvook air threat detector, himera walkie talkies, and the seababy navel drone

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Ukraine's entire industry is wheat and bread. it sends wheat all throughout Europe, making it quite rich

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My grandmother and father were both born in Kiev, and so was my father. Once they started hearing threats of a war happening, they immigrated to the U.S. first settling in New York before making their way to new jersey.

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Though this is bleak, the future for my country isn’t looking the best. Millions of people have been displaced and thousands are confirmed dead. And with America considering cutting aid for a while at this point, I know I shouldn’t keep high hopes. Of course I want my people and my country to make it out of this, but I don’t know if they will.