Will Ukraine remains in Russia’s orbit or link its future to Europe?

Ever since the 17th century, Ukraine has been the prize to be had for empires and powers in the immediate regions.

In the 15th and 16th centuries some serfs (halfway between slaves and freemen) ran away from Polish landlords and settled on the steppes of Ukraine. They were called Kozaky (Cossacks), which means freemen. The Cossacks formed self-governing communities.

Eventually they united to form the Cossack Hetmanate led by a hetman (general). However in the late 17th century Poland came to dominate western Ukraine while Russia dominated eastern Ukraine. Then in the 18th century Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia was determined to absorb eastern Ukraine into Russia.

The Cossack Hetmanate was abolished in 1764. Meanwhile in the 18th century Poland was declining and in 1772-1795 Russia and Austria decided to help themselves to Polish territory.

Most of western Ukraine was taken by Russia (except for a small strip in the far west, which went to Austria). Finally in 1783 Russia conquered Crimea. Catherine the Great also founded Odessa.

In 1783 the Russians captured Crimea from the Turks. The Russians created a naval base and fortress at Sevastopol. Then in 1853 Russia went to war with Turkey. However Britain and France feared the Russians were growing too powerful and they might take too much Turkish territory so they went to war with Russia in 1854. They sent an expedition to Crimea and besieged Sevastopol for a year. The war ended in 1856.

Following the Communist Revolution of 1917 Crimea was made an autonomous part of the Soviet Union in 1921. However in 1941 the Germans invaded the Soviet Union. They captured Sevastopol in 1942. In 1944 the Russians liberated Crimea but Stalin accused the Crimean Tatars of co-operating with the Germans. Stalin deported vast numbers of Crimean Tatars to other parts of the Soviet Union. Crimea lost its autonomy and became part of Russia. (In 1954 it was made part of Ukraine. From the 1950s onward large numbers of Russians and Ukrainians went to live in Crimea.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 many Tatars returned to Crimea. However most of the population of Crimea are Ethnic Russians and Ukrainians. Only a minority are Tatars.

In 1996 Ukraine introduced a new constitution which recognises Crimea as an autonomous republic. Today the main industries in Crimea are tourism and agriculture. The population of Crimea is 2 million. The largest city is Sevastopol with a population of 380,000.

In 2004, Viktor Yanukovych, then Prime Minister, was declared the winner of the presidential elections, which had been largely rigged, as the Supreme Court of Ukraine later ruled. The results caused a public outcry in support of the opposition candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, who challenged the outcome of the elections. This resulted in the peaceful Orange Revolution, bringing Viktor Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko to power, while casting Viktor Yanukovych in opposition.

Yanukovych returned to a position of power in 2006, when he became Prime Minister in the Alliance of National Unity, until snap elections in September 2007 made Tymoshenko Prime Minister again.

Amid the 2008–09 Ukrainian financial crisis the Ukrainian economy plunged by 15%.

Disputes with Russia over debts for natural gas briefly stopped all gas supplies to Ukraine in 2006 and again in 2009, leading to gas shortages in several other European countries.

Viktor Yanukovych was elected President in 2010 with 48% of votes.

The Euromaidan protests started in November 2013, after then president Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign an association agreement with the European Union, describing it as disadvantageous to Ukraine. Over time, Euromaidan has come to describe a wave of ongoing demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, the scope of which has evolved to include calls for the resignation of President Yanukovych and his government. Violence escalated after 16 January 2014 when the government accepted Bondarenko-Oliynyk laws, also known as Anti-Protest Laws. Anti-government demonstrators occupied buildings in the centre of Kiev, including the Justice Ministry building and riots left 98 dead and thousands injured on Feb 18–20. Due to violent protests on 22 February 2014, Members of Parliament found the president unable to fulfil his duties and exercised 'constitutional powers' to set an election for 25 May to select his replacement.

On March 1, Vladimir Putin, President of Russian Federation, received parliamentary authorization to deploy Russian troops to Ukraine in response to the Crimean crisis.

Pro-Russian troops accordingly have mobilized throughout Crimea and the southeast of Ukraine. Much of the Western world and parts of Southeast Asia condemned these actions. As of March 2, pro-Russian troops are said to have complete control over Crimea. A Crimean autonomy referendum is scheduled to be held on 16 March 2014.