And the The Welcome to Russian History Retold, episode 168, the history of Ukraine Part 1. Last time we cover the history of five major famines that help define Russian history in society.

Today we cover another topic that helps define Russia and its people, the country on the west side of Russia, Ukraine. Before we get going, I'd like to point out that the correct way of mentioning the country at the heart of today's podcast is not the

Ukraine which many people say and I see it on television all the time in a newscast but it's simply Ukraine.

Now I've made the mistake in the past and want to make sure that my listeners don't make that same error. Ukraine is as much a part of Russian history

as Russia itself, But it is a people, culture, and history that is not entirely tied to its

larger neighbor to the east, even though it seems that way. Often when I hear someone speaking English

with what I think is a Russian accent and I ask it there for my ancestor's homeland,

quite often I'm corrected that the person is Ukrainian with a very proud voice.

Now first off, let's define what the word Ukraine means.

Ukraine means on the edge or border land.

I love how author Anna read in her book,

Borderland, A Journey Through the History of Ukraine,

describes its history. Quote, flat, history,

quote, flat, fertile and fatally tempting to invaders.

Ukraine was split between Russia and Poland

from mid-17th century to the end of the 18th, between Russia and Austria through

the 19th and between Russia, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Romania between the two world wars.

Until the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991,

it had never been an independent state.

She further goes on to say,

quote, being a border land meant two things.

First, Ukrainians inherited a legacy of violence.

...