Apps

Ukrainians — news, coverage & facts — IJR

Ethnonym

The modern name Ukraintsi (Ukrainians) is derived from Ukraina (Ukraine), a name first documented in the Kievan Chronicle under the year 1187. The terms Ukrainiany (first recorded in the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle under the year 1268), Ukrainnyky, and even narod ukrainskyi (the Ukrainian people) were used sporadically before Ukraintsi attained currency under the influence of the writings of Ukrainian activists in Russian-ruled Ukraine in the 19th century. From the 14th to the 16th centuries, the western portions of the European part of what is now known as Russia, plus the territories of northern Ukraine and Belarus (Ruthenia), were largely known as Rus, continuing the tradition of Kievan Rus'. People of these territories were usually called Rus or Rusyns (known as Ruthenians in Western and Central Europe).

The Ukrainian language is, like modern Russian and Belarusian, a descendent of Old East Slavic. In Western and Central Europe it was known by the exonym "Ruthenian". In the 16th and 17th centuries, with the establishment of the Zaporozhian Sich, names of Ukraine and Ukrainian began to be used in Sloboda Ukraine. After the decline of the Zaporozhian Sich and the establishment of Imperial Russian hegemony in Left Bank Ukraine, Ukrainians became more widely known by Russians as "Little Russians", with the majority of Ukrainian elites espousing Little Russian identity and adopting the Russian language, as Ukrainian was outlawed in almost all contexts.

This exonym—regarded now as a humiliating imperialist imposition—did not spread widely among the peasantry, which constituted the majority of the population. Ukrainian peasants still referred to their country as "Ukraine" (a name associated with the Zaporozhian Sich, with the Hetmanate and with their struggle against Poles, Russians, Turks and Crimean Tatars) and to themselves and their language as Ruthenians/Ruthenian.

With the publication of Ivan Kotliarevsky's Eneyida (Aeneid) in 1798, which established the modern Ukrainian language, and with the subsequent Romantic revival of national traditions and culture, the ethnonym Ukrainians and the notion of a Ukrainian language came into more prominence at the beginning of the 19th century and gradually replaced the words "Rusyns" and "Ruthenian(s)". In areas outside the control of the Russian/Soviet state until the mid-20th century (Western Ukraine), Ukrainians were known by their pre-existing names for much longer. The appellation Ukrainians initially came into common usage in Central Ukraine and did not take hold in Galicia and Bukovina until the latter part of the 19th century, in Transcarpathia not until the 1930s, and in the Prešov Region not until the late 1940s.

The modern name Ukraintsi (Ukrainians) derives from Ukraina (Ukraine), a name first documented in 1187. Several scientific theories attempt to explain the etymology of the term. According to the traditional theory, it derives from the Proto-Slavic root *kraj-, which has two meanings—one being the homeland as in "nash rodnoi kraj" (our homeland), and the other being "edge, border"—and originally had the sense of "periphery", "borderland" or "frontier region". According to another theory, the term ukraina should be distinguished from the term okraina: whereas the latter term means "borderland", the former has the meaning of "cut-off piece of land", thus acquiring the connotation of "our land", "land allotted to us".

In the last three centuries, the population of Ukraine experienced periods of polonisation and russification, but preserved a common culture and a sense of common identity.

Geographic distribution

Most ethnic Ukrainians live in Ukraine, where they make up over three-quarters of the population. The largest population of Ukrainians outside of Ukraine lives in Russia where about 1.9 million Russian citizens identify as Ukrainian, while millions of others (primarily in southern Russia and Siberia) have some Ukrainian ancestry. The inhabitants of the Kuban, for example, have vacillated among three identities: Ukrainian, Russian (an identity supported by the Soviet regime) and "Cossack". Approximately 800,000 people of Ukrainian ancestry live in the Russian Far East in an area known historically as "Green Ukraine".

In a 2011 national poll of Ukraine, 49% of Ukrainians said they had relatives living in Russia.

According to some previous assumptions, an estimated number of almost 2.4 million people of Ukrainian origin live in North America (1,359,655 in Canada and 1,028,492 in the United States). Large numbers of Ukrainians also live in Brazil (600,000); Kazakhstan (338,022); Moldova (325,235); Argentina (305,000); (Germany) (272,000); Italy (234,354); Belarus (225,734); Uzbekistan (124,602); the Czech Republic (110,245); Spain (90,530–100,000) and Romania (51,703–200,000). There are also large Ukrainian communities in such countries as Latvia, Portugal, France, Australia, Paraguay, the UK, Israel, Slovakia, Kyrgyzstan, Austria, Uruguay and the former Yugoslavia. Generally, the Ukrainian diaspora is present in more than 120 countries of the world.

The number of Ukrainians in Poland amounted to some 51,000 people in 2011 (according to the Polish census). Since 2014, the country has experienced a large increase in immigration from Ukraine. More recent data put the number of Ukrainian migrant workers at 1.2–1.3 million in 2016.

In the last decades of the 19th century, many Ukrainians were forced by the Tsarist autocracy to move to the Asian regions of Russia, while many of their counterpart Slavs under Austro-Hungarian rule emigrated to the New World in search of work and better economic opportunities. According to some sources in the first decade of the 2000s, around 20 million people outside Ukraine identify as having Ukrainian ethnicity; however, the official data of the respective countries calculated together does not show more than 10 million. In any event, Ukrainians have one of the largest diasporas in the world.

Origin

The East Slavs emerged from the undifferentiated early Slavs in the Slavic migrations of the 6th and 7th centuries CE. The state of Kievan Rus united the East Slavs during the 9th to 13th centuries. East Slavic tribes cited as "proto-Ukrainian" include the Volhynians, Derevlianians, Polianians, and Siverianians and the less significant Ulychians, Tivertsians, and White Croats. The Gothic historian Jordanes and 6th-century Byzantine authors named two groups that lived in the south-east of Europe: Sclavins (western Slavs) and Antes. Polianians are identified as the founders of the city of Kiev and as playing the key role in the formation of the Kievan Rus' state.

At the beginning of the 9th century, Varangians used the waterways of Eastern Europe for military raids and trade, particularly the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. Until the 11th century these Varangians also served as key mercenary troops for a number of princes in medieval Kiev, as well as for some of the Byzantine emperors, while others occupied key administrative positions in Kievan Rus' society, and eventually became slavicized. Besides other cultural traces, several Ukrainian names show traces of Norse origins as a result of influences from that period.

Differentiation between separate East Slavic groups began to emerge in the later medieval period; and an East Slavic dialect continuum developed within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, with the Ruthenian language emerging as a written standard. The active development of a concept of a Ukrainian nation and the Ukrainian language began with the Ukrainian National Revival in the early 19th century in times when Ruthenians (Русини) changed their name because of the regional name. In the Soviet era (1917–1991), official historiography emphasised "the cultural unity of 'proto-Ukrainians' and 'proto-Russians' in the fifth and sixth centuries".

A poll conducted in April 2022 by the polling organisation Rating found that the vast majority (91%) of Ukrainians (excluding the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine) do not support the thesis that "Russians and Ukrainians are one people".

Genetics and genomics

Ukrainians, like most Europeans, largely descend from three distinct lineages: Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, descended from populations associated with the Paleolithic Epigravettian culture; Neolithic Early European Farmers, who migrated from Anatolia during the Neolithic Revolution 9,000 years ago; and Yamnaya Steppe pastoralists, who expanded into Europe from the Pontic–Caspian steppe of Ukraine and southern Russia in the context of Indo-European migrations 5,000 years ago.

In a survey of 97 genomes for diversity in full genome sequences among self-identified Ukrainians from Ukraine, a study identified more than 13 million genetic variants, representing about a quarter of the total genetic diversity discovered in Europe. Among these, nearly 500,000 were previously undocumented and likely to be unique for this population, medically relevant mutations whose prevalence in the Ukrainian genomes differed significantly compared to other European genome sequences, particularly from Western Europe and Russia. Ukrainian genomes form a single cluster positioned between the Northern European populations on one side, and Western European populations on the other.[4] There was a significant overlap with Central European populations as well as with people from the Balkans. In addition to the close geographic distance between these populations, this may also reflect the insufficient representation of samples from the surrounding populations.

The Ukrainian gene-pool includes the following Y-haplogroups, in order from the most prevalent:

R1a (43%)

I2a (23%)

R1b (8%)

E1b1b (7%)

I1 (5%)

N1 (5%)

J2 (4%)

G (3%)

T (1%)

Roughly all R1a Ukrainians carry R1a-Z282; it has been found significantly only in Eastern Europe. Chernivtsi Oblast is the only region in Ukraine where Haplogroup I2a occurs more frequently than R1a, much less frequent even in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. In comparison to their northern and eastern neighbours, Ukrainians have a similar percentage of Haplogroup R1a-Z280 (43%) in their population—compare Belarusians, Russians and Lithuanians (55%, 46%, and 42% respectively). Populations in Eastern Europe that have never been Slavic do as well. Ukrainians in Chernivtsi Oblast (near the Romanian border) have a higher percentage of I2a as opposed to R1a, which is typical of the Balkan region, but a smaller percentage than Russians of the N1c1 lineage found among Finno-Ugric, Baltic and Siberian populations, and also less R1b than West Slavs. In terms of haplogroup distribution, the genetic pattern of Ukrainians most closely resembles that of Belarusians.

The presence of the N1c lineage is explained by a contribution of the assimilated Finno-Ugric tribes.

Soviet period

During the 1920s, under the Ukrainisation policy pursued by the national Communist leadership of Mykola Skrypnyk, Soviet leadership encouraged a national renaissance in the Ukrainian culture and language. Ukrainisation was part of the Soviet-wide policy of Korenisation (literally "indigenisation").

In 1932–1933, millions of Ukrainians were starved to death by the Soviet regime, which led to a famine known as the Holodomor. The Soviet regime remained silent about the Holodomor and provided no aid to the victims or the survivors. But news and information about what was going on reached the West and evoked public responses in Polish-ruled Western Ukraine and in the Ukrainian diaspora. Since the 1990s, the independent Ukrainian state, particularly under President Viktor Yushchenko, the Ukrainian mass media and academic institutions, many foreign governments, most Ukrainian scholars, and many foreign scholars have viewed and written about the Holodomor as genocide and issued official declarations and publications to that effect. Modern scholarly estimates of the direct loss of human life due to the famine range between 2.6 million, (3–3.5 million), and 12 million, although much higher numbers are usually published in the media and cited in political debates. As of March 2008, the parliament of Ukraine and the governments of several countries, including the United States, have recognised the Holodomor as an act of genocide.

Following the Invasion of Poland in September 1939, German and Soviet troops divided the territory of Poland. Thus, Eastern Galicia and Volhynia with their Ukrainian population became part of Soviet Ukraine. When the German armies invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, those regions temporarily became part of the Nazi-controlled Reichskommissariat Ukraine (Ukrainian Realm Commissariat). In total, the number of ethnic Ukrainians who fought in the ranks of the Soviet Army is estimated from 4.5 million to 7 million. The pro-Soviet partisan guerrilla resistance in Ukraine is estimated to have numbered 47,800 from the start of occupation to 500,000 at its peak in 1944, with about 50% being ethnic Ukrainian. Of the estimated 8.6 million Soviet troop losses, 1.4 million were ethnic Ukrainians.

In 1943, under the command of Roman Shukhevych, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (Ukrayins'ka Povstans'ka Armiia, or UPA) began ethnic cleansing. Shukhevych was one of the perpetrators of the Galicia-Volhynia massacres of tens of thousands of Polish civilians. It is unclear to what extent Shuchevych was responsible for the massacres of Poles in Volhynia, but he certainly condoned them after some time and also directed the massacres of Poles in Eastern Galicia. Historian Per Anders Rudling has accused the Ukrainian diaspora and Ukrainian academics of "ignoring, glossing over, or outright denying" Shuchevych's role in this and other war crimes.

Ethnic/national identity

The watershed period in the development of modern Ukrainian national consciousness was the struggle for independence during the creation of the Ukrainian People's Republic from 1917 to 1921. A concerted effort to reverse the growth of Ukrainian national consciousness was begun by the regime of Joseph Stalin in the late 1920s, continuing with minor interruptions until the most recent times. The man-made famine of 1932–33, the deportations of the so-called kulaks, the physical annihilation of the nationally conscious intelligentsia, and terror in general were used to destroy and subdue the Ukrainian nation. Even after Joseph Stalin's death, the concept of a Russified though multiethnic Soviet people was officially promoted, according to which non-Russian nationals were relegated to second-class status. Despite this, many Ukrainians played prominent roles in the Soviet Union, including such public figures as Semen Tymoshenko.

The creation of a sovereign and independent Ukraine in 1991, however, pointed to the failure of the policy of the "merging of nations" and to the enduring strength of the Ukrainian national consciousness.

Biculturalism is especially present in southeastern Ukraine, where there is a significant Russian minority. Historical colonisation of Ukraine is one reason that creates confusion about national identity to this day. Many citizens of Ukraine have adopted Ukrainian national identity in the past 20 years. According to the concept of nationality dominant in Eastern Europe, the Ukrainians are people whose native language is Ukrainian (an objective criterion) whether or not they are nationally conscious, and all those who identify themselves as Ukrainian (a subjective criterion) whether or not they speak Ukrainian.

Attempts to introduce a territorial-political concept of Ukrainian nationality on the Western European model (presented by political philosopher Vyacheslav Lypynsky) were unsuccessful until the 1990s. Territorial loyalty has also been manifested by the historical national minorities living in Ukraine. The official declaration of Ukrainian sovereignty of 16 July 1990 stated that "citizens of the Republic of all nationalities constitute the people of Ukraine."

Religions

Ukraine was inhabited by pagan tribes until Byzantine rite Christianity was introduced by the turn of the first millennium. It was imagined by later writers who sought to put Kievan Rus' Christianity on the same level of primacy as Byzantine Christianity that Apostle Andrew himself visited the site where the city of Kiev would be later built.

However, it was only by the 10th century that the emerging state, the Kievan Rus', became influenced by the Byzantine Empire. The first known conversion was by the Princess Saint Olga, who came to Constantinople in 945 or 957. Several years later, her grandson, Prince Vladimir baptised his people in the Dnieper River. This began a long history of the dominance of the Eastern Orthodoxy in Ruthenia (Ukraine).

Ukrainians are majority Eastern Orthodox Christians, forming the second largest ethno-linguistic group among Eastern Orthodox in the world. The autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine, headed by Metropolitan Epiphanius, is the most common church; whereas in the small areas of the country, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, who were under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, is more common. The Russian invasion of Ukraine had an impact on the religious identity of some Ukrainians.

In the Western region known as Halychyna, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, one of the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches, has a strong membership. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, there has also been a growth of Protestant churches (Baptists, Evangelism, Pentecostalism). Some Ukrainians are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and Jehovah's Witnesses. In addition, there are ethnic minorities practising other religions: Crimean Tatars (Islam), and Jews and Karaites (Judaism).

A 2020 survey conducted by the Razumkov Centre found that majority of Ukrainian populations was adhering to Christianity (81.9%). Of these Christians, 75.4% are Eastern Orthodox (34% of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and 13.8% of the Moscow Patriarchate, and 27.6% are simply Orthodox); 8.2% are Greek Catholics; 7.1% are simply Christians; and a further 1.9% are Protestants and 0.4% are Latin Catholics. As of 2016, 16.3% of the population claims no religious affiliation, and 1.7% adheres to other religions. According to the same survey, 70% of the people of Ukraine declare themselves believers but do not belong to any church; 8.8% identifies with none of the denominations; and another 5.6% identify themselves as non-believers.

Ukrainians

Comments

‘Many People Died, And What For?’: Ukrainians Increasingly Willing To Make Peace With Russia As War Rages On

‘Complete Flip’: CNN’s Harry Enten Says Ukrainians Want War Over Immediately

Ukrainians

Comments

‘Many People Died, And What For?’: Ukrainians Increasingly Willing To Make Peace With Russia As War Rages On

‘Complete Flip’: CNN’s Harry Enten Says Ukrainians Want War Over Immediately

Article

Notable quotes

Momentum

Ukrainians across IJR

Notable quotes

Article

Ethnonym

Geographic distribution

Origin

Genetics and genomics

History

Kievan Rus'

Cossack Hetmanate

Short-lived independence

Soviet period

Historical maps of Ukraine

Ethnic/national identity

Culture

Language

Religions

Cuisine

Music

Dance

Symbols

Ukrainians across IJR

Ukrainians

Comments

‘Many People Died, And What For?’: Ukrainians Increasingly Willing To Make Peace With Russia As War Rages On

‘Complete Flip’: CNN’s Harry Enten Says Ukrainians Want War Over Immediately

Ukrainians

Comments

‘Many People Died, And What For?’: Ukrainians Increasingly Willing To Make Peace With Russia As War Rages On

‘Complete Flip’: CNN’s Harry Enten Says Ukrainians Want War Over Immediately

Article

Notable quotes

Ukrainians across IJR

Notable quotes

Article

Ethnonym

Geographic distribution

Origin

Genetics and genomics

Related ethnic groups

History

Kievan Rus'

Cossack Hetmanate

Short-lived independence

Soviet period

Historical maps of Ukraine

Ethnic/national identity

Culture

Language

Religions

Cuisine

Music

Dance

Symbols

Ukrainians across IJR