Both Russian and Ukrainian are Slavic languages from the Indo-European family. Russian is an official language of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kirgizstan, while Ukrainian is the sole official national language of Ukraine.
What country colonized Ukraine?
Russian empire
Who owns Ukraine?
As of today Russia continues to illegally occupy Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea (26 081 km²), the city of Sevastopol (864 km²), certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (16799 km²) — in total 43744 km² or 7,2% of the territory of Ukraine.
When was Ukraine a part of Russia?
17th and 18th-century Ukraine Galicia fell to the Austrian Empire, and the rest of Ukraine to the Russian Empire. While right-bank Ukraine belonged to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until late 1793, left-bank Ukraine had been incorporated into Tsardom of Russia in 1667 (under the Treaty of Andrusovo).
Was Ukraine part of Russia in the past?
After World War II, the western part of Ukraine merged into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, and the whole country became a part of the Soviet Union. Ukraine gained its independence in 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.