Ukrainian History Trivia

1. When did the Russo-Ukrainian War officially start?

From Quiz Ukraine - The Border Land Invaded

Answer: 2014

The ousting of a pro-Russian government in early 2014 led to pro-Russian protests in eastern and southern Ukraine and Russia's annexation of the Crimea. As a result, February 2014 is considered to be the start of Russo-Ukrainian War. The military invasion of Ukraine took place on 24 February 2022.

From Quiz History of Ukraine: Beginnings

Answer: Homo neanderthalensis

Neanderthals have been viewed as being cavemen for quite some time, and they probably did rely on the use of caves for housing, especially during cold weather. The area around Molodova, Ukraine, has been studied since the 1980s, and many Neanderthal artifacts have been found there. The more recent discovery of a house has changed scientific thinking regarding the Neanderthal people. The structure was 26 feet across at its widest point, and was able to accommodate a larger group than was expected. There is also evidence that the home was inhabited over a long period of time, as 25 different hearths have been discovered. At the present time, scientists believe that Neanderthals lived in Eurasia from approximately 400,000 years ago (sources differ here) to 40,000 years ago. Originally pictured as being simple minded brutes, archaeological evidence has painted a different picture - one of people who made simple clothing, buried their dead, used plants for medicinal purposes, made stone tools, as well as jewelry, and even decorated the mammoth bones used for building their homes with ocher and engravings.

From Quiz The History of Kiev

Answer: A Slavic prince

Historical evidence matches the local tradition somewhat but not entirely, and leaves many unanswered questions much open to speculation. However, it is known that around the 5th century there were Slavic settlements in what is now Ukraine and Kiev. Kyi is believed to be the oldest son of a king who founded Kiev with his brothers and one sister. Since Kyi was the oldest child, the city was named after him. Some historians believe Kiev was founded a few centuries later by Magyars. The Khazars, nomads who lived primarily around the Silk Road, are another group sometimes named as Kiev's founders as the city would have been an ideal outpost for them.

From Quiz History of Ukraine

Answer: Kievan Rus

Kievan Rus layed the foundation for the national identity of Ukrainians, as well as other East Slavic nations, through subsequent centuries.

From Quiz Ukraine - The Border Land Invaded

Answer: Chelsea Football Club

Sanctions were imposed by many countries, including the United Kingdom, on notable Russian oligarchs and political leaders in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. As a result of the UK sanctions, Abramovich was disqualified from being an owner by the English Premier League and sold the club in May 2022. He had been owner of the Chelsea Football Club since June 2003.

From Quiz History of Ukraine: Beginnings

Answer: Copper

The Copper Age lasted from approximately 6000 BC-3500 BC, although the dates vary according to area. During this time, people who had already settled down for farming began to discover the techniques associated with metallurgy. The Cucuteni-Trypillia culture existed in western Ukraine from 5500 to 2750 BC; some of the sites show a surprisingly large population for the time, with the Talianki site, in modern day Cherkasy Oblast, being home to some 15,000 people. They made copper awls, adzes, sewing needles, and fish hooks, while continuing to use stone and bone to make other items. Located east of the Cucuteni-Trypillia culture, the site of the Sredny Stog culture also shows evidence of items made of copper.

From Quiz The History of Kiev

Answer: Oleg of Novgorod

Not much is known for certain during Kiev's early years. Everything we know about the region comes from a text called "Primary Chronicle" which was written in 1113 mostly from tradition passed by word of mouth. Oleg of Novgorod was a Varangian (that is, Viking) prince and the leader of Rus'. When he conquered Kiev in 882 and moved the capital there, the region became known as Kievan Rus', which lasted until 1240.

From Quiz History of Ukraine

Answer: Poland and Lithuania

It was called the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

From Quiz Ukraine - The Border Land Invaded

Answer: President of Ukraine

His character, Vasily Petrovych Goloborodko, is a high school teacher who is filmed by one of his students complaining vigorously about corruption in Ukraine. The video goes viral and, after a crowd funding campaign, his students register him, without his knowledge, as a candidate for the Ukrainian presidential race. And of course this unlikely candidate wins the election! Zelenskyy does have a law degree, but is better known for his work as a comedian.

From Quiz The History of Kiev

Answer: Batu Khan

Batu Khan was the grandson of Genghis Khan who founded the Golden Horde dynasty of the Mongols. Under Batu Khan, the Mongols expanded their already vast empire further into Eastern Europe. Kiev was a city the Mongols wanted badly but their efforts to take the city without damaging it failed miserably when the Kievan soldiers fought back unexpectedly.

From Quiz History of Ukraine

Answer: Zaporozhian Sich

Poland had little real control of this land in what is now central Ukraine, which became an autonomous military state, at times allied with the Commonwealth in the military campaigns.

From Quiz History of Ukraine: Beginnings

Answer: Yamnaya Culture

The Yamnaya Culture lived in Ukraine during the late Copper/early Bronze Ages, as it evidenced from items that have been found in their pit grave burials. The name "Yamnaya" is derived from the Russian "yamnaya", which means "related to pits". Their pit graves included animal offerings, and some were marked with large stelae. It is believed that the graves found with the most metal objects belonged to highest ranking individuals in the society. Probably semi-nomadic, the people did know how to farm and had some permanent villages. Scientists believe, after conducting genetic studies, that the Yamnaya - more men than women - migrated in many different directions, bringing elements of their culture, as well as their genetic composition, to others.

From Quiz The History of Kiev

Answer: Battle of Blue Waters

The Battle of Blue Waters took place in what is now Ukraine although not directly in Kiev itself. Algirdas, the Duke of Lithuania, was able to successfully take several principalities the Mongols had in Ukraine before taking Kiev. The amount of casualties and exactly how the battle was fought is unknown but it is commonly believed that Algirdas was able to gain control of the Dnieper River, which would have been essential to winning. With Kiev and other Ukrainian territories in the hands of Algirdas, Lithuania had access to the Black Sea and a new rival with the Duchy of Moscow.

From Quiz History of Ukraine

Answer: Bohdan Khmelnytsky

This uprising finally led to the separation of Ukraine from Poland and Russia.

From Quiz Going to Galicia in Ukraine

Answer: Spain

The historical region of Galicia in Eastern Europe is not to be confused with the Spanish autonomous community of the same name. The two are not related in any way despite sharing the name. The Spanish Galicia is located in the north-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. It was named after the Gallaeci, a Celtic tribe. The Eastern European Galicia is also considered to have derived its name from a Celtic tribe. Other similar named places with Celtic origins are Gaul, the former name of France, and Galatia, in central Anatolia, in Turkey.

From Quiz Ukraine - The Border Land Invaded

Answer: Independence Square

The spark for the protests was considered to be Ukraine's pro-Russian President Yanukovych choosing not to sign a free trade agreement with the European Union despite the Ukrainian parliament overwhelming approval of the agreement. Instead he was proposing to strengthen ties with Russia.

From Quiz History of Ukraine: Beginnings

Answer: Horse

Horses have been important to mankind for thousands of years - first as a source of meat in the case of wild horses that were hunted, and eventually as a means of transportation and a work force. Many zoologists agree that large herds of the tarpan horse lived in the area that is Ukraine today; genetic studies suggest that even after the domestication of the tarpan, the horse continued to be bred with wild mares. Historians are continuing to debate where the horse was actually first domesticated; a long-time theory gave credit to the Yamnaya culture in Ukraine, however, others credit the Botai in Kazakhstan.

From Quiz The History of Kiev

Answer: Jewish people

Poland had an increasingly large influence over Kiev during this time period and Poland had close ties to the Jewish Community. The Orthodox and Catholic churches were already fighting each other for control of Kiev and other cities mainly in Eastern Europe, when Sigismund II, Grand Duke of Lithuania, granted Jewish people citizenship in Kiev because they paid city taxes. The Jews in Kiev were supported by the Polish Orthodox Church, which was steadily gaining in power at the expense of the Catholics.

From Quiz History of Ukraine

Answer: Austria-Hungary

Over twenty thousand supporters of Russia were arrested and placed in an Austrian concentration camp in Talerhof, Styria, and in a fortress at Terezín (now in the Czech Republic).

From Quiz History of Ukraine

Answer: Stalin

Stalin instituted a program of collectivization of agriculture as the state combined the peasants' lands and animals into collective farms and enforcing the policies by the regular troops and secret police. Those who resisted were arrested and deported and the increased production quotas were placed on the peasantry.

From Quiz Ukraine - The Border Land Invaded

Answer: Ghost of Kyiv

At one stage it was reported that the Ghost of Kyiv was Major Stepan Tarabalka, who was killed in combat on 13 March 2022 and honoured with a Hero of Ukraine medal posthumously. Subsequently the Ukrainian Air Force Command said that the Ghost of Kyiv was a 'super-hero legend ... created by Ukrainians.'

From Quiz The History of Kiev

Answer: Bolsheviks

The Bolsheviks were seeking to return Ukraine to Russia under Soviet rule. They marched into the city to stop the democratic elections that were scheduled to take place to the Ukrainian Central Rada. The Polish Army was successful in keeping them out for a short while until the Soviet Army sent troops. Kiev fell under Soviet power in 1921.

From Quiz History of Ukraine

Answer: Both Nazi and Soviet Army

Some Ukrainians joined Soviet forces, forming the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in 1942, while many Ukrainians collaborated with the Nazis, having been ignored by all other powers.

From Quiz Ukraine - The Border Land Invaded

Answer: Snake Island

This event took place on the first day of the invasion. Snake Island sits in the Black Sea, and was defended by 13 border guards against one Russian cruiser. At this early stage of the war it seemed to epitomise what was then assumed to be Russia's overwhelming military superiority.

From Quiz History of Ukraine: Beginnings

Answer: Ostrogoths

The Goths were tribes of Germans; historians, however, still do not agree on their origin. While most believe they came from Scandinavia, their exact ancestry is still unknown. Ancient Greek and Roman authors' accounts generally claim that Goths were Germans, which to them meant that they lived in the Rhine River region. In broad terms, there were many tribes of Goths, but by the late 300s AD they were classified within two major groups - the Visigoths, or West Goths, who lived in modern-day Hungary and Germany. The Ostrogoths, or East Goths, who settled in the region of Ukraine, Romania, and Russia. Historians believe the Ostrogoths mixed with other groups who were already living in the area, which they called "Oium". Over time, the Ostrogoths were driven west into the Roman Empire by a series of invasions. They are credited with forcing the last western Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus, to leave the city of Rome in 476 AD, and establishing their own kingdom in Italy. This date is considered to be the end of ancient times and the beginning of the Middle Ages.

From Quiz The History of Kiev

Answer: Helicopter

Sikorsky came to the United States in 1919 after believing his desire to start an aviation industry would be hampered in Eastern Europe. After several failed attempts, Sikorsky finally successfully got his helicopter, the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, to take off. It was constructed in Kiev because the United States government was skeptical of Sikorsky's ability to actually build a working helicopter as many previous attempts by both him and others had failed.

From Quiz History of Ukraine

Answer: Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

Large areas of Belarus, Ukraine, Russia and beyond were contaminated in varying degrees. Around 150,000 people were evacuated from the contaminated area, and 300,000-600,000 took part in the clean-up. By the year 2000, about 4,000 cases of thyroid cancer had been diagnosed in children who had been exposed to radiation from the explosion.

From Quiz History of Ukraine: Beginnings

Answer: Huns

The Huns, horsemen who are believed to have originated in China, began a series of migrations after being defeated by the Han dynasty. They moved to the steppes of Central Asia sometime between the 3rd century BC and 2nd century AD. By 370 AD further migrations of the Huns began to push tribes of Goths into the Roman Empire, which had a devastating affect on an already declining system; eventually the Huns themselves began their own invasion of the once mighty empire. In Ukraine, many of the ancient cities and states around the Black Sea were destroyed by the Huns, along with the Kyiv culture further north. Surprisingly, scholars today are still trying to piece together information about this destructive group, who quickly disappeared from history in 453 after the death of their famous leader, Attila.

From Quiz History of Ukraine

Answer: August 24, 1991

In August of 1991, the conservative Communist leaders of Soviet Union attempted a coup to remove Gorbachev and to restore Communist party power. In response, on 22 August 1991 the Ukrainian parliament adopted the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine in which the parliament declared Ukraine as independent democratic state.

From Quiz Going to Galicia in Ukraine

Answer: Austrian

In 1772, the Austrian Empire annexed the region of Galicia from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This was part of the First Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (also known as the First Partition of Poland), a series of three partitions that eventually ended the Commonwealth. With the Commonwealth in decline, the three dominant powers of Central Europe - Russia, Prussia, and Austria, divided its territory amongst themselves. In 1804, Galicia formally became a crownland or royal domain of the Austrian Empire. This status continued under the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, until the monarchy itself was dissolved in 1918 after World War I.

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Last Updated Dec 21 2024 5:51 AM

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