The earliest human settlements in Russia date back to around A.D. 500, when Scandinavians (from what is now Norway, Denmark, and Sweden) moved south to areas around the upper Volga River. These settlers mixed with Slavs from the west and built a fortress that would eventually become the Ukrainian city of Kiev.
Kiev evolved into an empire that ruled most of European Russia for 200 years, but eventually broke up into Ukraine, Belarus, and Muscovy. Muscovy’s capital, Moscow, remained a small trading post until the 13th century, when Mongol invaders from Central Asia forced people to settle there.
In the 1550s, Muscovite ruler Ivan IV became Russia’s first tsar, or emperor, after driving the Mongols out of Kiev and unifying the region. In 1682, 10-year-old Peter the Great and his older brother Ivan both became tsar (though Peter’s aunt and Ivan’s mother, Sophia, was in charge). Soon after, Sophia was overthrown, and Peter was considered the true tsar, though he allowed his brother to keep his official position. For 42 years, Peter worked to modernize Russia and make it more European.
In 1762, Peter traveled to Germany, and his wife, Catherine, named herself the sole ruler of Russia. Just six months later, the tsar died—possibly on his wife’s orders. Known as Catherine the Great, the empress continued to modernize Russia, supported the arts and culture, and expanded its territory by claiming Ukraine, Crimea, Poland, and more. She ruled for 34 years.
In 1917, Russians unhappy with their leadership overthrew Tsar Nicholas II and formed an elected government. But just months later, a communist group called the Bolsheviks seized power. Their leader, Vladimir Lenin, created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R., or the Soviet Union), uniting Russia and 11 other countries.
The Soviet Union fought on the side of the United States in World War II, but relations between the two powers and their allies became strained after the war ended in 1945. The United States and many of its allies were worried about the spread of communism, the type of government the Soviet Union had. (In a communist society, all property is public, and people share the wealth they create.)
These concerns led to the Cold War, a long period of tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States. This ended in 1991 when the Soviet Union broke up after many of its republics—such as Ukraine, Lithuania, and Estonia—decided they no longer wanted to be part of the communist country.
Independent Republics
After the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991 under moderate Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, the former republics became 15 independent states. The largest and most powerful of these is Russia. Others include Ukraine, Lithuania, and Belarus.
During this time, Boris Yeltsin became president, and Russia went through many changes. The Communist Party no longer ran the government. People were elected to work in a representative democracy with many political parties. Private businesses were allowed to function instead of the government controlling everything. Citizens gained new political and cultural freedoms, with fewer fears of breaking the law.
Yeltsin was reelected in 1996, but his bad health prevented him from completing his term. He resigned a few years later and named his prime minister, Vladimir Putin, to replace him as acting president.
In 2000, Putin was formally elected by the citizens of Russia. In the early years of his presidency, Putin continued many of Yeltsin’s reforms and supported the United States in the War on Terror after the attacks on September 11, 2001. However, he also curbed some cultural freedoms and took control of national television networks, allowing his government to influence news reports.
Putin was elected to a second term in 2004, but as in the United States, he could not serve more than two consecutive four-year terms. So, in 1998, he appointed an aide, Dmitri Medvedev, to take his place as president. Many believed that Putin still ruled Russia from behind the scenes during this time.
In 2012, Putin ran again for president and won. However, he was less popular among the people, and citizens protested against unfair elections. His government arrested many political opponents and labeled the protesters as traitors to Russia who wanted to make the country more like the West, especially the United States.
Russia Invades Ukraine
In 2014, Russian troops invaded the Crimean Peninsula, an area in southern Ukraine bordered by the Black Sea. Putin claimed that the people of Crimea had voted for independence from Ukraine.
Many Ukrainians and leaders from other countries disagreed with Putin’s actions and believed the “vote” wasn’t legitimate. In March of that year, Putin signed a treaty with some Crimean leaders declaring Crimea part of Russia. Ukrainian officials refused to recognize the agreement, asserting that Crimea was still part of Ukraine.
Russian forces remained in Crimea to prevent Ukraine from taking it back. Later in 2014, fighting broke out along the eastern border between Ukrainians and Russian-backed rebels who wanted all of Ukraine to become part of Russia.
In 2019, comedian and actor Volodymyr Zelensky was elected president of Ukraine. Zelensky ran on a platform of uniting the country and ending the border conflict with Russia. To assist in this, the United States planned to provide Ukraine with millions of dollars in military aid.
In July 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump was accused of withholding that aid unless Zelensky investigated Trump’s political rival, Joe Biden. Zelensky refused, and Trump was later impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives over the claims. (Ukraine received the aid later that year.)
The 2022 Invasion
In February 2022, Putin announced an invasion of Ukraine and sent troops to seize major cities, including the capital, Kyiv. Ukrainian citizens have been fighting back against the attacks, with Zelensky vowing to stay in the country and fight for Ukraine’s freedom.
World leaders have strongly condemned Putin’s actions, and some have imposed sanctions on Russia, hoping to hurt the country economically and stop the fighting before it spreads to other European nations.
