Thousands of years ago, territories that currently belong to Ukraine were primarily inhabited by nomadic tribes, including the Cimmerians and the Scythians. At the same time, there were several Greek colonies in the north, near the Black Sea. These included Panticapaeum, Theodosia, Chersonesus, and Olbia. Greeks lived alongside Scythians and even established an extensive trade system with them.

When the Roman Empire began waging wars around Europe in the first centuries AD, it led to a long period of migrations throughout the continent. Many traveled over Ukraine’s territory, settled for a while, like the Goths and Huns, and then left for one reason or another. However, one particular group stuck around. These were the Slavs. During the next couple of centuries, there were seven Slavic tribes west of the Carpathians, seven of which resided in what is now Ukraine.

In the ninth century, Scandinavian Vikings began expanding their area of reach for trade and war. At the time, the river Dnipro, on which the city of Kyiv had been built, was part of a valuable trade route to the Black Sea. In 882, a struggle took place between two groups of Vikings for the city of Kyiv. It was conquered by the group led by Helgi, known in the Ukrainian chronicles as Oleh. That’s how the Kyivan Rus’ was established.

Beginning with Oleh, many rulers ruled over Kyiv and the Kyivan Rus’. It existed as a whole during some periods, and during others, different rulers had power over different tribes. Nevertheless, the Kyivan Rus quickly established itself as a powerful actor in both trade and politics.

One of the notable rulers of Kyiv was Volodymyr, who took the throne in 980. He’s known for bringing Christianity to the Kyivan Rus’, which was previously pagan. However, it’s quite interesting that his choice of religion was primarily political. Muslim Bulgars, Jewish Khazars, Christian Germans representing the Pope, and a Greek scholar advocating for Byzantine Christianity, which Volodymyr eventually settled on, all importuned Volodymyr. Volodymyr realized that religion also meant allyship, so he chose the religion of the strongest empire in the region—The Byzantine Empire. Christianity wasn’t immediately accepted by the people, but eventually became the leading religion in the Kyivan Rus’.