Deep roots in history: The Russia–Ukraine clash

THE RULE OF MOSCOW
While Kiev and Ukraine were under the control of foreign powers, the Slavs in the north, centered around Moscow, were getting stronger. The Cossacks, one of the ancestors of Ukrainians, became a central matter in Ukrainian-Russian relations by the 17th century. The Cossacks were the primary political and military power in the steppes of Ukraine since the 16th century. They established a variety of alliances with Russia, Poland and the Ottoman Empire. With the treaty of Andrusovo between Russia and Poland in 1667, Cossacks living in Kiev and along the Dnieper River fell under the rule of Russia, while the rest fell under the rule of Poland.

Despite being under occupation, the Cossacks continued to strive for independence. Cossack Hetman Mazepa sided with Charles XII of Sweden against Russian Tsar Peter I in 1709. But the defeat of the Swedish at the hands of Russians resulted in a heavy cost for the Cossacks. Tsar Peter I ended the de facto independence of the Cossacks in Ukraine. In the second half of the 18th century, Catherine II of Russia abolished the office of Cossack Hetman. A great portion of Ukrainian lands were then used for the relocation of populations living in conquered territories in Poland and the Baltics.

Ukraine re-emerged following the collapse of Tsarist Russia. And in 1922 it officially became part of the USSR. Within this period, the Ukrainian identity of the republic was emphasized. As a reaction to Stalin's Russification policies, immediately following his death, Khrushchev transferred the Crimean peninsula to Ukraine. Ukraine became an independent state in 1991 following the dissolution of the USSR.