The question “Was Ukraine ever part of Russia?” is not just a historical query; it is a political and cultural lightning rod at the heart of the largest European conflict since World War II. The answer is complex, layered, and deeply contested. To understand it is to move beyond simplistic narratives and delve into a thousand-year saga of shifting borders, evolving identities, and imperial domination.
The short answer is yes, for significant periods, much of modern Ukraine was incorporated into the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union. However, this fact alone is profoundly misleading without its crucial context. A more accurate history reveals that Ukraine’s story is not a subordinate chapter in Russia’s book, but a parallel narrative with its own origins, spirit, and a relentless struggle for self-determination.
The Common Origin: The Kievan Rus’ Foundation
The story of both modern nations begins not in Moscow, but in Kyiv. In the 9th century, the Kyivan Rus’ emerged as a powerful federation of East Slavic tribes under the rule of Varangian (Viking) nobles. It became a major European power, and in 988, Prince Volodymyr the Great adopted Orthodox Christianity, a moment that forever shaped the religious and cultural landscape of Eastern Europe.
This is the foundational period both Ukrainians and Russians point to for their historical lineage. For Ukrainians, this is the indisputable proof of their ancient statehood centered in Kyiv. The Russian historical narrative, particularly as promoted under the Tsars and Vladimir Putin, posits that the Russians are the sole, direct heirs to this legacy, framing Ukrainians as “Little Russians” who lost their connection to this common root—a notion modern scholarship and Ukrainian identity fiercely reject.
The fragmentation of Kyivan Rus’ after the 13th-century Mongol invasions set the two peoples on divergent paths. The northeastern principalities, including Moscow, fell under Mongol suzerainty (the “Tatar Yoke”), which heavily influenced the development of a centralized, autocratic Russian state. The lands of modern-day Ukraine were largely absorbed by other powers: the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. For centuries, the historical development of Ukrainians and Russians proceeded separately.
The Cossack Hetmanate: A Forged Ukrainian Proto-State
In the 16th and 17th centuries, a new force emerged on the Ukrainian steppes: the Cossacks. These free, warrior communities, particularly the Zaporozhian Host, became the embodiment of Ukrainian resistance against Polish domination and the incubators of a unique political identity.
In 1648, led by Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the Cossacks launched a massive uprising against the Commonwealth. Seeking a powerful ally, Khmelnytsky signed the Pereiaslav Agreement of 1654 with the Tsardom of Moscow. This treaty is one of the most pivotal and contested events in Eastern European history.
- The Russian Interpretation: Moscow framed it as an act of “perpetual union” and the “reunification” of the Russian and Ukrainian peoples, effectively an invitation for Russian protection and the beginning of Ukrainian membership in the Russian world.
- The Ukrainian Interpretation: The Cossacks understood it as a temporary military alliance with a sovereign monarch (the Tsar), not a surrender of their autonomy. They saw it as a pact between equals for mutual defense against Poland.
Moscow quickly betrayed this interpretation. The Tsardom gradually eroded the Hetmanate’s autonomy, imposing increasing control. By the late 18th century, following the partitions of Poland, the Russian Empire under Catherine the Great had completed the full annexation of Ukrainian territories, including the Crimean Khanate. The once-autonomous Hetmanate was fully absorbed, and the era of direct Russian imperial rule began.
The Imperial Erasure: Russification and the “Little Russian” Myth
For the next century and a half, the Russian Empire pursued a systematic policy of Russification. The goal was to suppress a distinct Ukrainian identity and recast Ukrainians as a provincial branch of the Russian nation.
Key policies included:
- The Valuev Circular (1863) and Ems Ukaz (1876): These infamous decrees banned the publication of books and texts in the Ukrainian language, even outlawing the use of Ukrainian in theaters and schools. The Ems Ukaz went so far as to forbid the import of Ukrainian books and the printing of Ukrainian lyrics to sheet music.
- Historical Revisionism: The very name “Ukraine” (which means “borderland” or, tellingly, “country”) was suppressed in favor of the derogatory term “Little Russia” (Malorossiya), implying a smaller, less significant part of a greater Russian whole.
- Religious Control: The Ukrainian Orthodox Church was subsumed under the control of the Russian Synod in Moscow.
This was not merely political control; it was a centuries-long project of cultural and linguistic erasure designed to eliminate the very idea of a separate Ukrainian nation.
The Soviet Era: Famine, Terror, and Formal Borders
The 20th century brought unimaginable suffering. After a brief period of independence following the Russian Revolution (1917-1921), Ukraine was conquered by the Bolsheviks and forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR).
Soviet rule was catastrophic:
- The Holodomor (1932-1933): Joseph Stalin’s policy of forced collectivization led to a man-made famine that killed millions of Ukrainians. Seizing grain to feed industrial cities and break the backbone of Ukrainian peasant resistance, it is widely regarded as an act of genocide aimed at crushing national spirit.
- Continued Russification: The Russian language was enforced as the language of state, education, and advancement, while Ukrainian was marginalized.
- Political Terror: The Ukrainian intellectual and cultural elite were systematically purged to prevent any resurgence of nationalism.
Paradoxically, the Soviet period also solidified Ukraine’s modern borders. In 1954, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev transferred the Crimean Peninsula from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR in a largely symbolic act within a single state. This administrative decision would have monumental consequences decades later.
Conclusion: A History of Domination, Not Inevitability
So, was Ukraine ever part of Russia? Yes, but with critical nuance.
Large portions of modern Ukraine were under the control of the Russian Empire for roughly 150-200 years and part of the Soviet Union for about 70 years. However, this control was never peaceful, natural, or accepted. It was the result of imperial expansion, broken treaties, and enforced through brutal policies of cultural suppression, famine, and terror.
To say Ukraine was “part of Russia” is to use the language of the imperialist. It frames Ukrainian history through a Russian lens, ignoring the centuries of distinct development before Pereiaslav, the fierce resistance of the Cossacks, and the relentless fight for sovereignty. A more accurate description is that Ukraine was a subjugated nation under Russian imperial rule.
Ukraine’s history is not a footnote in Russia’s story. It is the story of a nation with a thousand-year-old origin in Kyiv, which spent centuries fighting to preserve its language, culture, and right to self-determination against overwhelming imperial force. Understanding this distinction is essential to understanding the deep roots of the conflict that rages today.