Given the current political climate in Ukraine (circa 2024), I found this map to be really interesting.
Most folks are unaware that a portion of Poland was annexed after World War II and given to Ukraine. That’s right, some of modern-day Ukraine was once Poland.
In fact, the Ukrainian city of Lviv (one of Ukraine’s most important cities) was once Polish!
And how about Crimea … it was annexed to Ukraine in 1954 by Nikita Khrushchev.
Why? Because it was difficult to get resources to it from Russia, and Khrushchev thought it’d be more efficient to supply the region via Ukraine. And besides, Ukraine and Russia were thought to be eternal friends. It was unimaginable in 1954 that the two countries could be at war.
I like this map because it adds context to events happening in the news — things I’m sure you’re reading about.
Russia-Ukraine Conflict in Crimea Explained
Watch this video for a more in-depth understanding of the crisis:
The Ukraine-Russia Conflict Explained (Video)
"Kyiv is a bilingual capital, something unusual in Europe and unthinkable in Russia and the United States."
-- Timothy Snyder, The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America
