By Putin’s Logic, These 15 Countries Could Claim Ukraine’s Lands, Too
Putin bases his claims on Ukraine on the fact that about 90% of Ukraine was controlled by the Russian Empire before World War I, then about 85% of Ukraine was under Soviet occupation between the two world wars, and, finally, after World War II the whole of Ukraine was part of the USSR, which was in a sense Russian Empire 2.0. Additionally, he lays claim to the heritage of Kyivan Rus’, a medieval tribal union with the center in Kyiv.
Any sane person understands that, if everyone used this megalomaniac logic and tried to resurrect bygone empires, chaos would reign in the world.
When it comes to Ukraine, throughout millennia, dozens of states, proto-states, quasi-states, and tribal unions thrived on its territory. In some cases, there are no definite heirs to these formations — for example, we can’t identify any single nation as the descendants of the Huns, the Scythians, or the Khazars, — but there are at least 15 modern states that could claim some of Ukraine’s lands if they were out of touch with reality to the same degree as the Kremlin’s vicious midget. Here they are in tentative chronological order:
1. Greece
Multiple Ancient Greek colonies used to exist along the northern coast of the Black Sea since the 7th century BC including Tyras (today’s Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi in Odesa Oblast), a nameless settlement excavated in downtown Odesa, Olbia (Mykolaiv Oblast), Borysthenes (on Berezan Island, off the coast of Mykolaiv Oblast), and a whole bunch in Crimea (Chersonesus, Panticapaeum, Nymphaion, Myrmekion, Tyritake, Kerkinitis, and Theodosia).
For a short period in the 1st century BC, Crimea and parts of the northern coast of the Black Sea were controlled by the Kingdom of Pontus. Between the 5th century BC and the 5th century AD, the Greco-Scythian Bosporan Kingdom existed in parts of Crimea. Later it would come under control of Byzantium. And in the 14th-15th centuries the Greek-Gothic Principality of Theodoro existed in the south of Crimea.
2. Romania
Romanians can be viewed as descendants of the Dacians, and approximately between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD the Dacian Kingdom included the region of Budjak (now the southern part of Odesa Oblast) and parts of Zakarpattia (Transcarpathia, the region to the west of the Carpathian Mountains), mostly Northern Maramureș around the modern town of Solotvyno — where there are a lot of Romanians today, by the way.
Much later, between the two world wars in the 20th century, Romania owned Bessarabia (including Budjak in the south, and the eastern corner of Chernivtsi Oblast in the north) and Northern Bukovina (the rest of Chernivtsi Oblast). And during World War II, Romania occupied the whole of Odesa Oblast.
It should be noted that Romanians may also claim the legacy of the Principality of Moldavia (see under Moldova below).
3. Italy
If we view Italy as the heir to the Roman Empire, then we should mention that at some point it controlled the westernmost (in Zakarpattia), the southwesternmost (in Budjak), and southernmost (in Crimea, including the Bosporan Kingdom) points of Ukraine.
In the Late Middle Ages, the republics of Genoa and Venice had colonies on the northern coast of the Black Sea. The Genoese built fortresses of Moncastro (later known as Akkerman Fortress, in today’s Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi), Cembalo (in today’s Balaklava, Crimea), Kaffa (Theodosia/Feodosia in Crimea), Vosporo (Kerch in Crimea), and Soldaia (Sudak in Crimea, previously owned by Venice).
4. Bulgaria
In the 7th century AD, Old Great Bulgaria occupied the southeastern part of continental Ukraine and the northern part of Crimea. It should be noted that the Bulgars that established this empire were Turkic tribes, and modern Bulgarians are basically Slavs mixed with these Bulgars and some other tribes. Later the First Bulgarian Empire would reach Budjak and parts of Zakarpattia.
5. Croatia
White Croatia, or Great Croatia, somewhere between the 7th and 10th centuries reached parts of Zakarpattia and today’s Lviv Oblast (with an important settlement, considered by some researchers to be the capital of White Croats, near the village of Stilsko).
6. Czechia
Great Moravia at some point in the 9th century supposedly controlled parts of Western Ukraine (in Zakarpattia and Lviv Oblast). In the 20th century, between the two world wars, Zakarpattia was part of Czechoslovakia.
7. Slovakia
Technically, Slovakia, along with Czechia, can be considered an heir to both Great Moravia and Czechoslovakia.
8. Hungary
Since the 11th century, Zakarpattia was part of the Kingdom of Hungary, and later most of it belonged to the Principality of Transylvania (de facto half-independent formation ruled by Hungarian princes). For a short period in the 14th century the Kingdom of Hungary even controlled Northern Bukovina and Galicia, or Halychyna (today’s Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv Oblasts and about two thirds of Ternopil Oblast), also known as Eastern Galicia because later, under the Austrian rule, the term “Galicia” was extended to include Polish lands as far west as Kraków. When the Austrian Empire transformed into Austria-Hungary in 1867, Zakarpattia once again came under Hungarian control, and the same region was occupied by Hungary during World War II.
9. Mongolia
After the Mongol Empire took Kyiv in 1240, Batu Khan continued his westward expansion and technically conquered most of Ukraine, even if he didn’t really control all of it. Later Eastern and Southern Ukraine would for some time remain under control of the Golden Horde, one of the splinters of the Mongol Empire.
10. Poland
After the demise of Kyivan Rus’ and then of the Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia, Galicia fell into the hands of Poland. Then, after the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed, Poland controlled today’s Northern, Central and most of Western Ukraine (except Zakarpattia and Bukovina), before it started losing its lands piece by piece to Moscovia (later known as Russia). Between the two world wars Poland owned Galicia as well as Western Polesia and Western Volhynia (that is, modern Volyn and Rivne Oblasts and the northern part of Ternopil Oblast in addition to its Galician part).
11. Lithuania
In the 14th-16th centuries, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania controlled Northern, Central, and partly Western and Southern Ukraine. After the creation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, it de facto surrendered most of these lands to Poland (even if technically it was the federation of both nations).
It can be mentioned that there’s a branch of Belarusian nationalism known as Litvinism that claims that the true heir to the Grand Duchy is Belarus, but we’ll just tactfully ignore it here.
12. Moldova
Since the 14th century, the Principality of Moldavia included Bukovina and Bessarabia (with Budjak, which it would eventually surrender to the Ottoman Empire). For a short period, it also controlled the region of Pokuttia (with the center in Kolomyia, now in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast).
13. Turkey
The Ottoman Empire, of which Turkey can be seen as the heir, in the 15th-18th centuries controlled the south of Ukraine, shortly even occupying Bukovina and the west-central region of Podolia.
14. Austria
The Habsburgs controlled parts of Zakarpattia since the 16th century, and would annex the rest of it at the end of the 17th century. Then, in 1772 and 1774 they gained control over Galicia and Bukovina respectively. In 1918, during World War I, Austrians and Germans also shortly occupied those Ukrainian lands that were previously ruled by the Russian Empire.
15. Germany
Germans occupied Ukrainian lands during both world wars: first in 1918 when they divided spheres of influence with Austrians, and then in 1941–1944 when they controlled most of Ukraine, leaving some parts to their Romanian and Hungarian allies.
Conclusion
So, why should Putin, for example, have the right to Galicia, which spent almost 450 years under Poland, almost 150 years under Austria, and only less than 50 years in the USSR? Or why wouldn’t Turkey claim Southern Ukraine which the Ottoman Empire controlled before the Russians?
Admittedly, some of the countries mentioned above, especially Hungary, Turkey and Romania, do have expansionist nationalist elements in their politics. But Russian aggression in Ukraine has demonstrated that trying to change borders by force in the 21st century amounts to barbarism. And countries that want to be seen as part of the civilized world should clearly show their position and stand up to the modern-age barbarians.
See also “Ukraine, the Graveyard of Europe”, my article about various cultural layers that can be found in Ukraine.