In 988 Grand-Duke Vladimir (Volodymyr) the Great introduced Christianity as the official state religion.
In the late 11th century conflict among the various principalities led to decline and gradual disintegration of the Kievan Rus. As the result in the 13th century the Mongol Empire was able to conquer the state and stayed there for more than 2 centuries.
Since the 14th century the biggest part of the territory of modern Ukraine was under Lithuanian and Poland control.
During 1648-1654 Cossack armies headed by Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky were able to escape from under Polish administration and founded their own state, the Cossack Hetmanate, which got protection by Russia.
In 1667 Ukrainian territory was again divided between Poland and Russia where they maintained a semi-independent republic Zaporizhian (Zaporiz’ka) Sich wich was destroyed in 1775 by Russian army.
Since the end of the 18th century the west of Ukraine fell under Austrian control, while the rest was a part of the Russian Empire.
Due to the Ukrainian War of Independence (1917 – 1921) the West Ukrainian People’s Republic was announced and in 1918 the independence of Ukraine was proclaimed.
In 1922 the West Ukrainian People’s Republic and the Ukrainian People’s Republic (in eastern part of Ukraine) were merged into Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic and became a part of the USSR.
In 1932 the aggressive policies of Joseph Stalin’s regime resulted in one of the largest national catastrophes in the history of the Ukrainian nation. Millions of people died during the famine known as the Holodomor.
In 1934 the country government was moved from Kharkov to Kiev which is still the capital of the country.
During 1941-1945 together with the whole USSR Ukraine was involved into the World War II. When Nazi Germany invaded Western Ukraine many people there accepted it as a chance to get rid of Soviet rule, while others fought both Soviet and Nazi forces. This fact is still a subject for various disputes.
In 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union Ukraine became an independent state but its new constitution was ratified only on 28 June 1996.
In 2004 Ukraine was known worldwide due to the Orange Revolution when Viktor Yushchenko and his supporters were able to prove that fraud took place during the presidential election and V.Yushchenko became the president.
In November 2013 president Yanukovych did not sign the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement and this caused protest in Kiev and all over the country. As the result in February 2014 Yanukovych was removed from power.
Now a new stage of life begins for all Ukrainians.