Kyivan Rus laid the cultural foundations for Eastern Europe

Recognizing the abundance of information available on the current war between Ukraine and Russia, this video focuses on the history of the region. Encapsulating Ukraine's background, the viewer will gain a better grasp of how the modern state arose from a quilt of different ethnicities, noteworthy conflicts between various groups, and more.

After centuries of division among neighboring powers, most of present-day Ukraine was absorbed into the Russian Empire by the late 1700s, marking the beginning of a long period of imperial control and cultural suppression.

"Ukraine" has been translated by some scholars as meaning "borderlands". Indeed the country lies perfectly between Europe and Russia, while hosting a diverse collection of people of differing languages, cultures, and ethnicities, feeling affinity for those on the other sides of the country's borders. This article explores how this affects the actions and reactions of Ukrainians during the current conflict.

This interactive map illustrates how the country’s borders have changed over the centuries, dating all the way back to the year 862, when the Varangian king Rurik assumed leadership of Ancient Rus. Scroll down to see how Russia vastly expanded its territory in the 16th and 17th centuries, and skip to 1991 to see which countries gained independence after the fall of the USSR.

In the 19th century, Ukrainian nationalism took shape through cultural revival movements and intellectual circles—even as the Russian Empire banned the Ukrainian language and sought to suppress Ukrainian identity.

Proclaimed in 1917 and absorbed into the USSR in 1922, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was nominally independent yet operated under Moscow's control, with its government and laws directed by the Soviet Communist Party.

Ukraine declared independence on Aug. 24, 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In a national referendum, over 90% of Ukrainians approved independence, establishing a democratic constitution and marking the birth of a modern sovereign state.

Russia launched a massive multifront assault from Belarus, Russia, and Crimea, aiming to seize Kyiv within days. Instead, Ukrainian forces repelled the advance, halting Moscow's plans for a rapid takeover.

In late 2013, President Viktor Yanukovych suspended preparations for a long-negotiated EU association agreement under Russian pressure, signaling a return to Moscow's influence and sparking mass Euromaidan protests across Ukraine.

Days after Ukraine's 2014 revolution, unmarked Russian troops occupied key sites in Crimea, a Black Sea peninsula with a predominantly Russian-speaking population that had been part of Ukraine since 1954.

Ukraine has had a varied history, and is home to a rich diversity of ethnicities, religions, and people. In the time leading up to Russia's attacks on the country, Russian President Vladimir Putin referred to Ukraine as a "Nazi nation", owing to Ukrainian nationalists' acceptance of the invading Nazis as liberators from the Soviet Union in WWII. The history is more complex than that. Read this Smithsonian Magazine article to learn more.

As of October 2026, Russian forces occupy roughly one-fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea and large parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, with front lines largely unchanged for months.

In the late 1940s, the USSR solidified control over Eastern Europe by installing pro-communist regimes in countries like Poland, Hungary and Romania—often through rigged elections and political repression.

In this podcast, journalist Julia Ioffe traces Putin's worldview to his "dvor"—the rough Soviet courtyards where he learned power, loyalty, and survival. The series shows how these early lessons shape his war in Ukraine.

During the early Middle Ages (c. 300–700 CE), groups such as the Franks, Vandals, Visigoths, and Suebi migrated into former Roman territories. Their movements transformed European politics and culture while preserving many Roman traditions.

This article explores why the Cucuteni-Trypillia culture may have regularly burned their homes. The Cucuteni-Trypillia culture is the oldest known in Europe, dating back to about 5,500 BCE in present-day Romania, Russia, and Ukraine. The...

Between roughly 800 and 1200 CE, seafaring Vikings from Scandinavia combined skilled craftsmanship with violent coastal raids. Their expeditions extended cultural influence from the British Isles to Northern Africa, reshaping medieval trade, warfare, and settlement patterns.

In a 5,000-word historical treatise he wrote himself, President Vladimir Putin claimed the move was meant to restore Russia's historic lands. Many Western historians and global leaders described these narratives as false pretexts for aggression.

Note: graphic content.

In 1917, mass unrest, war exhaustion, and economic collapse overthrew the Romanov monarchy, enabling the Bolsheviks to seize control. The revolution dismantled imperial Russia and set the foundation for the creation of the Soviet Union.

Although not a member of NATO, Ukraine has received substantial support from Western nations, primarily the United States and the European Union, totaling more than $300B in military, financial, and humanitarian assistance.

From 2014 to 2022, fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region killed roughly 14,000 people and left many cities in ruins, setting the stage for Russia's 2022 invasion.

Experience the slow build-up to the Russian-Ukraine war, to the moment when it was clear Putin intended to invade, to the actual invasion and occupation in this oral history compiled by Politico. Multiple US and Western officials share their perspectives and thoughts on the war, how it's been conducted, and what can happen next.

After Russia's annexation of Crimea, armed pro-Russian separatists seized government buildings in Donetsk and Luhansk in April 2014, declared the regions independent, and sparked a prolonged conflict with Ukrainian forces.

This piece examines how the Ukraine conflict intensified underlying divisions in the global order—between Western democracies and the Global South, and between rule-of-law norms and great-power politics.

Russia's heavily industrialized eastern Donbas region has been largely controlled by Russian separatists since 2014. Here's everything you need to know on the key strategic region.

On March 16, 2014, a disputed referendum in Crimea reported overwhelming support for joining Russia. Moscow annexed the peninsula two days later, a move widely condemned as a violation of international law.

The USSR comprised 15 republics—Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan—all governed from Moscow, the Soviet capital and still Russia’s capital today.

From 1613 to 1917, 18 Romanovs—including Peter and Catherine the Great—governed the vast Russian Empire. Their dynasty ended abruptly in 1917 when Nicholas II abdicated amid wartime shortages and revolutionary unrest, marking the end of imperial Russia.

Following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, few nations outside the West imposed sanctions on Moscow. Major powers such as China, India, Brazil, and Turkey remained neutral, underscoring global divisions over how to confront Russian aggression.

The 1917 Russian Revolution ended Tsarist rule and ultimately led to the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922. Follow the events that led to the revolution, subsequent civil war, and the USSR in this interactive...

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western military aid has helped dictate Ukraine's capability and strategy on the battlefield. From advanced ground-launched missiles to millions of rounds of ammunition, the supplies have been critical for Ukraine but force Western countries to tip-toe around the appearance of direct conflict with Russia. This visual deep-dive breaks down some of the most important military aid to date.

Throughout the Donbas conflict, Russia covertly supplied weapons, training, and troops to separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, even as the Kremlin publicly denied direct involvement in the fighting.

After more than seven decades of Soviet communism, the collapse of the system in the early 1990s opened a path for organized crime to take over the country's newly-privatized industries. As Vladimir Putin centralized power in the subsequent decades, he did not vanquish the mafia, but rather tamed it. This long read explores the subtle, complex ways organized crime flourishes within Putin's state.

In a remote corner of Turkey, locals speak Romeyka, a language with no written form and an "impressive" similarity to ancient Greek. This article details how the language may have survived and highlights the roughly 5,000 Romeyka speakers in the area. Research shows that Romeyka bears a startling resemblance to the Koine Greek spoken at the height of ancient Greek influence between fourth century BCE and fourth century CE.

The modern university can be traced back to the Middle Ages, when schools in Italy, France, and England initially trained clergy before expanding to include lay students. By the 10th and 11th centuries, they taught law, medicine, and theology across Europe.

BBC's "Ukrainecast" offers ongoing coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war, featuring on-the-ground reporting, expert analysis, and personal stories from Ukrainians living through the conflict.

The Holodomor of 1932-33 was a human-made famine resulting from Stalin's grain requisition policies, killing an estimated 3 million to 4 million Ukrainians—considered by many to be an act of genocide.

Russia was barred from the Eurovision Song Contest following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In 2025, President Vladimir Putin announced the revival of Intervision, a similarly structured song contest that the Soviet Union had organized throughout the Cold War.

Russia's invasion devastated Ukraine's agricultural sector, destroying farms, ports, and grain infrastructure and causing over $40B in losses. Disrupted exports fueled global food insecurity, while Moscow leveraged its grain exports to expand influence across the Global South.

Founded by the Han Chinese in 130 BCE, the Silk Road was a series of trade routes connecting eastern China with the Mediterranean and the rest of Europe. The Persians created a predecessor series of routes, but the Chinese solidified the Silk Road, where travelers traded commerce, ideas, and more.

Political instability and foreign interference weakened the Commonwealth, which was eventually divided between Prussia, Austria, and Russia. Poland would not be re-established until after World War I and decades of imperial oppression.

It's far enough north to have avoided the nomadic hordes who, for centuries, raided the European plain to its south—but it's just south enough to still farm the land. What's more, Moscow is protected by the huge taiga forests and is guarded by rare east-west rivers in a continent with mostly north-south ones.