This is an old revision of this page, as edited by M.V.E.i. (talk | contribs) at 20:23, 6 May 2007. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 20:23, 6 May 2007 by M.V.E.i. (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Russiansform the second biggest ethnic group in Ukraine, forming more than 30% of the population. Ukraine is the secound country with the most significant Russian population after Russia.
Historic Background
Belarusians, Russians, and Ukrainians together formed the medieval East Slavic nation Rus'. They were split into differenet people when their state Kievan Rus' was mostly occupied by other people. The seperation was what created the difference between the three groups, and Russ' breaking into three people.
Russian Empire period
The historical Ukraine was actually a country consisting of parts of a few of todays regions: Poltava Oblast, Dnepropetrovsk Oblast and Zaporozhye Oblast . Ukrainians leaded by Bohdan Khmelnytsky were fighting in a war for independence against Poland. When it became obviouse that Ukrainians alone can't win, they started looking for allice. In 1654 Ukraine signed Treaty of Pereyaslav, where it was agreed that Ukraine would accept the tsar's overlordship and become a part of Russia, and thats when first Russians came to live in the regions that priviously formed the historical Ukraine.
Ukrainian SSR
Since USSR was formed in 1922 Ukraine was a constituent republic in it. While being a Soviet republic, Ukrainian SSR recived regions that were historicaly not her, and whose population was almost entierly Russian (], Lugansk Oblast, Odessa Oblast, Krym Oblast).
Ukraine
Thought reciving independence from the USSR , Ukraine kept the regions that contained Russian population. The Ukrainian Goverment tried to "Ukranize" the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine, but all those tries didn't succe.