It existed before the flood, or maybe it does not exist at all? Is it the cradle of mankind, where the wheel and languages of the world were invented, or a mistake of history created by Russia's enemies? When, if at all, was Ukraine created?
In the book Pogranicze. Journey through the history of Ukraine 988-2015 ”Anna Reid writes: (...) it is impossible to resist the impression that Ukraine is now a solidified and undeniably real political entity. 
And yet, when it really arose, there is no single answer. Some are completely absurd, none is 100% satisfactory.
1. Ukraine as the cradle of humanity
This may not appeal to the supporters of the Empire of Lechites theory. We are not the only ones who believe that historians have deceived us in order to degrade the Great Polish Nation and diminish our merits to the universe. Also, the Ukrainians have their theories of Praukraina, which are in no way inferior to the arguments of the native Turboslavs.
Is it possible that the mythical Atlantis was in the territory of today's Ukraine? (author:Krzysztof Żyngiel, license:GFDL).
Let's start with the facts. Indeed, according to one hypothesis, the Indo-Europeans set out to conquer Asia and Europe from the vast steppes of today's Ukraine. They were different peoples, speaking the language from which most of the present-day cultures of Asia and Europe, including the Slavic languages, are derived.
And now the interpretation of the Turku-Ukrainian people. All these were not Indo-Europeans, but Proto-Ukrainian, and the language that gave rise to all the languages of the world - was the Proto-Ukrainian language . Such conclusions were reached, among others, by Vasyl Kobyliuch, a physician, poet and Sanskrit researcher.
The Egyptian Copts were also supposed to be of pre-Ukrainian origin, and the high Egyptian culture and language owed a lot to the prot-Ukrainian influence. The pre-Ukrainian people also invented the wheel. Kobyliuch doesn't stop there:
There are reasonable grounds (archaeological, geographic, toponymic) to consider the Carpathian-Podolia ridge to be the Rus' Island - Atlantis , where 180,000 BC, after the flood caused by the melting of the Third Glacier, found shelter for thousands or millions of people.
Kobyliuch counts as proto-Ukrainian people all the peoples who left traces of material culture in the lands of today's Ukraine:the Kimmeres, the Sarmatians. The ancient Scythian State, described by Herodotus, is of course also Praukraine .
Although the Iranian Scythians have nothing to do with the Slavic Ukrainians, except that they lived on the same land, some "researchers" call them Proto-Ukrainian (author:Dbachmann, license:CC BY-SA 3.0).
Oh, let's not forget! This tireless Sanskrit scholar also includes Jesus Christ in his theory. In his works, we can read: He also renewed the old, still pre-Ukrainian ritual of baptizing with water, which existed on the mainland Praukraine 45,000 years ago. There is even a version that Jesus Christ studied in Rus from 12 to 20 years of age at the College of Sages .
Meanwhile, Natalia Jakowenko (and other serious Ukrainian historians), writing about the Trypil culture, states that the proto-ethnic identification of the Trypil tribes remains a questionable issue , and that most researchers consider them to be of the Mediterranean race, perhaps of an Armenian anthropological type . The Scythians were the Iranian people. As for Jesus and Atlantis, there is nothing to comment on.
2. Medieval Ruthenia or Ukraine?
Okay. Let us establish that today's Ukrainians, after all, the Slavs, have little in common with the Iranian Scythian tribes and their state (apart from the occupied territory). It would be wiser to derive their state traditions from medieval Rus.
The brave Varangians in the illustration from the 11th-century chronicle. Although historians do not actually argue about the Varesian origins of Kievan Rus anymore, some Russians considered this version of the story "shameful" (source:public domain).
It was commonly assumed that the beginning of Ruthenian statehood was associated with the arrival of the Scandinavian Varangians in the areas inhabited by the Slavs. Though there was never full consensus here as well. The dispute was initiated in the 18th century by Gerhard Friedrich Muller and Mikhail Lomonosov. The first, "unpatriotically", believed that Kievan Ruthenia was founded by the Normans. The second took a more "patriotic" position, considering the theory of Varesian origins "shameful". And this despite the fact that hard and unambiguous sources spoke for her.
Anyway, Ruthenia first appeared in the Byzantine chronicles in the 9th century, during the invasions of Byzantine cities organized by its inhabitants. Baptism is considered to be the symbolic beginning of statehood, just like in Poland. It happened in 988.
Is it right? After all, before Prince Vladimir gave up his faith in many gods, his predecessors Oleg (Helgu) and Igor (Ingvar) had already concluded treaties with Constantinople - these were therefore the first political acts of the young state. If Ukraine were to be counted from Russia, it would be much older than the end of the 10th century.
Historians like to have a "starting date" and "end date", therefore the baptism of Vladimir in 988 is considered the beginning of Kievan Rus. In fact, the state existed before (source:public domain).
The question is whether Kievan Ruthenia can be treated as the beginning of Ukrainian statehood? Depends on who you ask. In Ukrainian textbooks the history of Ukraine begins with the baptism of Vladimir . The Russians, on the other hand, are convinced that only they have the right to the legacy of the Kiev princes. Why?
This is how Anna Reid presents Russian arguments in her book Pogranicze. Journey through the history of Ukraine 988-2015 ":
(...) after the withdrawal of the Mongols, the people of Kiev migrated to the northeast, and with them its culture and institutional arrangements. And when the former capital fell into decline, all Kiev splendor was reborn in Moscow (...). According to this reasoning, the heirs of the tradition of Ruthenia are not at all Ukrainians who speak some strange language (...).
The Ukrainians, in turn, ridicule Russia's ambitions. First of all, they say, when Włodzimierz baptized Ruthenia, and in the territory of today's Ukraine, literature developed, churches and castles sprang up, in the place of Moscow, a green forest was rustling . Secondly - Kyiv, the "mother of Ruthenian towns", is the capital of Ukraine. Third, with the advent of the Golden Horde, the Ruthenians did not move north collectively, but stayed where they were.
Fourth - the name "Russia" was created relatively late, for the purposes of imperial historical policy. The inhabitants of Ukrainian lands were called Ruthenians for centuries . Is it enough to take away the Russians' right to inherit from Kievan Rus and at the same time confirm that independent Ukraine is a continuation of this state creation? You can have doubts.
3. Free Cossacks or the first Ukrainians?
The hetmanate, which the uprising owes to Bohdan Chmielnicki, was never a formally independent state, but its structure was an emanation of the spirit of Cossack freedom . First, the supreme authority was exercised by an elected hetman. He was advised by a peculiar areopagus - the Council of General Elders. The executive power was also exercised by the General Military Chancellery. There was also a judiciary, composed of regimental and sotenny judges, for whom the General Military Court was the higher authority.
There was a local authority - colonels and sotniks, and an administrative division - 10 districts, called regiments. It is no coincidence that all names have military connotations - after all, there was a system of military democracy, and another official name of the Hetmanate is the Zaporizhian Army.
Let's add our language, culture, religion - and we already have a quasi-state, maybe not fully developed, but definitely separate from its neighbors.
Sich Zaporizhia was not formally a state, but had its own administrative structures, its own culture and a sense of separateness. Pictured:Ilya Repin's painting "The Cossacks are writing a letter to the Sultan" (source:public domain).
This separateness was close to being included in the formula of the Principality of Ruthenia as part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - because these were the provisions of the Hadziacka union signed in 1658. It was, however, an action overdue for several years. Moscow gained too much influence in Ukraine and did not intend to give up on it. The union provisions never came into effect.
Due to the so-called Perejasław Settlement, Ukrainian lands entered the orbit of the Russian Empire for good. However, there are many Ukrainian historians who emphasize that this only helped the local culture to stand out - the Ruthenians, who had previously felt alienation and aversion to Polish masters, thought they were closer to Moscow.
The first page of the original Constitution written by Pyłyp Orłyk for the Zaporozhian Cossacks (source:public domain).
However, when found themselves within one country, they noticed that their language, culture and traditions were significantly different , which gave them a sense of separateness and an impulse to shape the Ukrainian nation as we know it today.
Hence the short path to popular concepts, according to which Ukraine as we know it today was born not in the 10th, but rather in the 17th century.
4. 1918, 1991, 2004… Many Ukrainian Independences
World War I gave many nations a chance to regain or gain independence. Ukraine decided to take advantage. The more so as a revolution broke out in Russia at the same time. Only two days after Tsar Nicholas's forced abdication, the Ukrainian Central Council was established in Kiev - a body that is to become the beginning of the administration of a new state. The foundation of the Ukrainian People's Republic was announced in the fall.
It started rather modestly, with ideas to create a federation with Russia. It was only the Fourth Universal, issued by the Council on January 22, 1918, that proclaimed Ukrainian independence.
Secretariat of the Ukrainian Central Council from 1917. From the left:Paweł Chrystiuk, Mykoła Stasiuk, Borys Martos. Seated:Ivan Steszenko, Khrystofor Baranovsky, Volodymyr Vynnychenko, Serhiy Yefremov, Symon Petliura (source:public domain).
The development of accidents has accelerated dramatically. The war with the Bolsheviks, the war with Denikin's army, the war with the Poles, the war with the Poles against the Bolsheviks. The coup d'état, the year of Paweł Skoropadski's dictatorship (under the German protectorate), another coup d'état and the restoration of the URL ... Finally - the peace of Riga and recognition by the states of the world of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic created by the Bolsheviks.
The independent Ukrainian People's Republic ceased to exist. Nevertheless, the date of its creation - January 22, 1918 - can be considered one of the "beginnings" of the Ukrainian state.
Another historic date is August 24, 1991. The Supreme Council of the local Soviet Republic then announced the Act of Independence of Ukraine . In the December referendum, the choice of independence from Russia was supported by all regions, even Crimea!
The results of the independence referendum of December 1, 1991 in Ukraine. An overwhelming majority (author:Alex K, license:CC BY-SA 3.0) was in favor of independence from Russia.
But the review of the moments when Ukraine was created does not end there. The first Maidan came in 2004, and with it the first spurt towards the European model of democracy. Historian Serhy Yekelchyk directly calls this moment the birth of a modern nation .
Then there was also the second Maidan, known as the Euromaidan or the Revolution of Dignity. So maybe Ukraine was established on February 22, 2014, when the pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych was removed from the office?
5. There is no country like Ukraine!
As you can see, there are plenty of possibilities. However, there is no shortage of opinions that neither of these dates matters, because Ukraine has never existed and does not exist.
The circular of the Minister of the Interior of the Russian Empire, Piotr Valuev of July 18, 1863, already reads:influence of Poland .
This narrative, more or less, has survived in Russia to this day.
Russian TV journalist, political scientist and columnist Mikhail Leontiev said in an interview in 2009:
There is no such country in Ukraine. It's a fictional reality invented by people who hated Russia and those who are called Ukrainians. Ukraine exists thanks to the Western element, which is a product of a violent change of identity.
And he is not alone in his views. The Internet is full of texts that prove that Ukraine is a mistake of history. It is not entirely clear who is behind it - Germans, Poles, the USA and Jews appear in various interpretations (or all at once). One thing is for sure - the "brats", after all, the fellow nation, have strayed severely, turning their backs on Russia.
Maybe it's all about hurt pride after all. After all, it is well known that the Russians invented the wheel ...
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