Volodymyr Hrypas

We all remember the words from a heroic narrative poem (bylina), “Near the glorious city of Kyiv... there was an outpost of heroic warriors.” This outpost may well have been Bilhorod, the famous city of Kyivan Rus’, which in ancient times was destined to play the role of a key to the capital city...

On July 25, 1687, the general Cossack Council elected General Osaul Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa Ukrainian hetman “according to the customs and ancient rights by free voting.” The bearer of the hetman’s mace became a person whose fate was to leave the most remarkable trace in the history of Cossack...

“Near the glorious city of Kyiv There was a picket of mighty warriors. Ilia Muromets was their leader, Dobrynia Nikitich the younger — his deputy, There was also Alesha the parson’s son.” These and other lines of the heroic epic were created chiefly in the 10th — 11th centuries in the southern...

(Conclusion. Continued from The Day, no. 151). Could Rus’ have gone another way under these circumstances? It is possible. To a significant degree this depended on the personality of the Grand Prince, on his ability to compel the entire Riuryk dynasty to put the state’s interests first. One such...

Kyivan Rus’ was formed territorially during the 10 th century. Capturing the city of the legendary Prince Kyi, the Varangian Prince Oleh decided that “this will be the mother of all Rus’ cities.” During the reign of Oleh and his successors Ihor and Sviatoslav Kyiv spread its influence...

“At the glorious City of Kyiv... there stood an outpost manned by heroes. The outpost was under the command of Ilya Murometz. His second in command was Dobrynia Nikitich, Jr., and Cossack Captain Alyosha, son of a priest by the family name of Popovich.” Through these lines of an ancient Russian...

The first fifty to seventy years after the devastating Tartar- Mongol invasions of southwest Rus’ is an understudied page in our nation’s history. What was Kyiv like after 1240? Serious research began as late as in the early nineteenth century. Archeological excavations went hand in hand with...