Ukraine profile timeline

9th century – Founding of Kievan Rus, the first major Eastern Slavonic state. Oleg, ruler of Novgorod, who went on to seize Kiev which, owing to its strategic ukraine profile timeline on the Dnieper River, became the capital of Kievan Rus.

In 988 he accepts Orthodox Christianity and begins conversion of Kievan Rus, thus setting the course for Christianity in the east. Kiev becoming eastern Europe’s chief political and cultural centre. Foreign domination1237-40 – Mongols invade the Rus principalities, destroying many cities and ending Kiev’s power. The Tatars, as the Mongol invaders became known, establish the empire of the Golden Horde.

1349-1430 – Poland and later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth gradually annex most of what is now western and northern Ukraine. 1441 – Crimean Khanate breaks free of the Golden Horde and conquers most of modern southern Ukraine. 1596 – Poland establishes Greek-Catholic or Uniate Church, in union with Rome, which comes to predominate in western Ukraine. The rest of Ukraine remains overwhelmingly Orthodox.

1648-1657- Cossack uprising against Polish rule establishes Hetmanate, regarded in Ukraine as the forerunner of the modern independent state. 1654 – Treaty of Pereyaslavl begins process of transforming Hetmanate into a vassal of Russia. 1686 – Treaty of Eternal Peace between Russia and Poland ends 37 years of war with the Ottoman Empire in what is now Ukraine, and partitions the Hetmanate. 1708-09 – Mazepa uprising attempts to free the eastern Hetmanate from Russian rule, during the prolonged Great Northern War that ranged Russia against Poland and Sweden at the time. 1764 – Russia abolishes the eastern Hetmanate and establishes the Little Russia governorate as a transitional entity until the full annexation of the territory in 1781. Russian rule1772-1795 – Most of western Ukraine is absorbed into the Russian Empire through the partitions of Poland.

1783 – Russia takes over southern Ukraine through the annexation of the Crimean Khanate. 19th century – National cultural reawakening sees the development of Ukrainian literature, education, and historical research. Habsburg-run Galicia, acquired during the partitions of Poland, becomes a centre for Ukrainian political and cultural activity, as Russia bans the use of the Ukrainian language on its own territory. Rise of Soviet power1917 – Central Rada council set up in Kiev following collapse of Russian Empire. Numerous rival governments vie for control for some or all of Ukraine during ensuing civil war.