Before the German invasion, Ukraine was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union. Introduction During World War II, Reichskommissariat Ukraine (abbreviated as RKU) was the civilian occupation regime (Reichskommissariat) of much of Nazi German-occupied Ukraine (which included adjacent areas of modern-day Belarus and pre-war Second Polish Republic). Between September 1941 and August 1944, the Reichskommissariat[…]
The significance of the imperial heritage for the Russian–Ukrainian relationship. Abstract The legacy of the tsarist Empire and the Soviet Union is one of the crucial factors for an understanding and an explanation of current affairs in the post-Soviet space. This is especially true for Ukraine and for Russian–Ukrainian relations. Russia regards Ukraine as a[…]
The official conversion of Kyivan Rus’ took place in 988, and imparted an exceptionally high status to the Grand Prince. By Olga Kerziouk This year marks the 1022nd anniversary of the completion and consecration of the first stone-built church in the state of Ukraine-Rus’, the Church of the Dormition (better known as the Church of[…]
Kievan Rus’, medieval Ukraine, played an important role in both Russia and Europe. Introduction Kievan Rus′ was the early, mostly East Slavic state dominated by the city of Kiev from about 880 C.E. to the middle of the twelfth century. People speaking East Slavic dialects were known from the ninth century as Rus (also referred[…]
Ukraine’s Orthodox Church recently broke off from Russia. This dispute has a history that goes back to medieval Christianity. Introduction A new Orthodox Church was recently established in Ukraine. Shortly after, Bartholomew I, the Patriarch of Constantinople and the spiritual head of global Orthodox Christianity, granted independence to the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine and[…]
Byzantine influence was pronounced in Ukraine’s religious, political, and cultural spheres. Byzantium was originally a Greek colony, founded ca 660 BC on the European side of the Bosporus. Because of its strategic location between the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea, the colony controlled the traffic between Asia and Europe. The city was completely razed by[…]