The territory that is now Ukraine has had a pretty choppy history. And not choppy in the weed sense. The modern country of Ukraine wasn't entirely united or independent all the way through until 1991. At various times it was controlled by the Rus' (a group of people related to the Norse Vikings) Mongols, the Polish, Austrians, and Russians (and Soviets, if we want to make distinctions) to name a few, and as such, it became quite a melting pot of different ethnic groups. Wow, I just can't get away from the coincidental marijuana references today, can I?

Because of the subjugation of the lands of Ukraine by many different ruling cultures, Ukrainian people have often been fighting for independence. For instance, when the Cossacks fought for independence alongside Polish and Swedish forced against Russian aggressors in the early 18th century, they suffered a disastrous defeat and went home to rethink their hat-wearing, difficult dancing lives. To cut a long and very difficult to read story short (way too many 5-syllable names, like how do you pronounce "Koliivshchyna"?), during the First World War, Ukraine was sided with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, despite the large number of Ukrainian people enlisted in the Russian army. When the Russian Empire collapsed like an Italian dam, communism flooded through Eastern Europe like water in a bad analogy. 

After several divisions, wars, civil wars, a big World War, negotiated deals and map cuttings-up like a first-grade craft afternoon, what is now modern Ukraine gained its theoretical independence, although, in practice, it fell under the control of the of the Soviet Union, and therefore was mostly controlled by Russia. This independence came with one small exception - the Crimean Peninsula remained Russian, to allow access to the Black Sea for the Russian Navy. Remember that bit, it will become important later when I am testing you. In 1954, the Crimean peninsula was then 'transferred' from Russian control to Ukrainian control, however, as before, it was still ultimately in control of the USSR.

In 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union like a bridge in Hobart being hit by the cargo ship full of liberalisation and democracy, Ukraine gained its full independence from their neighbours. Yay!

That was a lot of fairly dense information to take in all at once, wasn't it? I think its time to take a nice relaxing break, so grab a cup of tea, go to the toilet and here are some fun facts about Ukraine that you can enjoy without straining your brain too much.

I hope you enjoyed your short break, but back to your seats now, children. Now, when Ukraine became an independent, democratic country, the area of the Crimea was allowed to become an autonomous region, essentially meaning that they are their own country in practice, but still part of Ukraine for the bigger picture stuff, like garbage collection. I told you this would come up again.

 In 2004, Viktor Yanukovych came to power as president in an election that was later deemed to have been rigged by the Supreme Court in Kiev. The people protested peacefully in the streets, and Yanukovych was removed from power in favour of the more western-leaning (and, in this 'un'biased author's blog, more attractive) Yulia Tymoschenko. Again in 2006 Yanukovych came to power through a coalition agreement, however another election in 2007 put Tymoschenko back in the top spot. In 2009, the Russian government got a bit shitty with Tymoschenko's dispute about natural gas, and so, controlling the gas flow into Ukraine, turned it off, causing shortages in many European countries. In 2010, Yanukovych was again elected to power with 48% of the vote (I don't know how that works, either), and Tymoschenko was sent to prison on some shaky-at-best embezzlement charges.

In late 2013, the Ukrainian parliament had almost organised a deal with the European Union to cover debts, however, Yanukovych, taking matters into his own hands, or perhaps because of some great kickbacks, struck a deal with the Russian Federation to join the proposed Euromaiden (think USSR 2.0, but with lasers). The people weren't super happy about it, and so had a little bit of a protest. Yanukovych, in his time-and-again proven infinite wisdom introduced anti-protest laws (think USSR 2.0, but with lasers) which led to further protesting, which, in turn unfortunately, turned violent. The police came into clashes with the protestors (think Tienanmen Square 2.0, but with lasers) and some citizens were being shot by snipers, who obviously felt so threatened in their towers across the street. The protestors, however, eventually overcame the police force and removed Yanukovych from power, Tymoschenko was released from prison, the European Union deal was looking good again, and life was back to normal.

Except that in the Crimea and other Eastern parts of the country where the population is largely Russian ethnically, this was bad. Vladmir Putin, now bored from the conclusion of the Sochi Olympics, but still waiting for the season premiere of Game of Thrones, decided that it was too risky for the Russian Naval Bases in the Crimea to come under threat, and ordered massive military exercises near the Ukrainian border and 'coincidentally' unmarked Russian soldiers, or at least militia sympathetic to the Russian cause took over various airports, sea ports and vital roads. Putin is claiming to be defending ethnic Russian in the area, and if we look back through the history books, one of the last people to claim that was a Moustachioed Austrian with a combover who invaded Poland in 1939.

Now that brings us to today, with most world powers harshly criticising Putin for his actions, strong economic sanctions against Russian being considered and put in place, many Ukrainians tensely waiting for a potential all out war, and the Second Cold War or the Third World War (I'm taking bets either way, but only one will pay out, I am imagining) at risk of kicking off.

Note: If you are reading articles about the issue, you may encounter both the terms 'Ukraine' and 'The Ukraine'.  The name 'The Ukraine' refers to an old Russian name that implies that Ukraine is a frontier region of Russia, while simply 'Ukraine' simply implies an independent country.