Ukrainian Greeks

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(Redirected from
Greeks in Ukraine
)
Greeks in Ukraine
греки (hreky)
Rumeíka
Religion
Orthodox Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Pontic Greeks and Caucasus Greeks

Ukrainian Greeks are a Greek minority that reside in or used to reside in the territory of modern Ukraine. The majority of Ukrainian Greeks live in Donetsk Oblast and are particularly concentrated around the city of Mariupol.

According to the

2001 Ukrainian Census, there were 91,548 ethnic Greeks in Ukraine, or 0.2% of the population. However, the actual percentage of those with Greek ancestry is likely to be much higher due to widespread intermarriage between ethnic Greeks and those Ukrainian citizens who are Ukrainian Orthodox, particularly in eastern Ukraine, as well as the absence of strong links to Greece or use of the Greek language
by many with Greek ancestry in these areas and who therefore are not classified as Greeks in official censuses.

Most Greeks in Ukraine belong to the larger Greek diaspora known as Pontic Greeks. But there are also a small recent group of Greek expats and immigrants to Ukraine.

Greek colonies of the Northern Black Sea, 8th - 3rd century BCE

History

Greek Coin from Cherronesos in Crimea depicting Diotimus 2nd century BCE. (Odesa Numismatics Museum)

A

Russo-Turkish War
of 1828–1829.

Ancient Greek colonies (6th century BCE–1st century BCE)

Maeotae, Cimmerians, Goths and predecessors of the Slavs
. These earlier Greek communities had, however, assimilated into the wider, indigenous population of the region.

Greek-speaking kingdoms in Crimea (4th century BC–15th century AD)

The Greek colonies coalesced into the Bosporan Kingdom in the 4th century BCE, which lasted as a Roman client state until the 4th century AD. Additionally, the Kingdom of Pontus was founded in the 3rd century BC and controlled territory in Ukraine (including the Bosporan Kingdom) until its acquisition by the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD.

Non-commissioned officers and men of the Greek Balaklava Infantry battalion, 1797-1830

After the 13th century

Rumeíka Greek
as their mother tongue.

The Crimean Principality of Theodoro gained independence from the Empire of Trebizond in the early 14th century and lasted until its conquest by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century.

Russian conquest (18th century)

See also: Emigration of Christians from the Crimea (1778)

The Urums and Rumaiic Pontic Greeks lived among the

Hurzuf
-Urzuf, etc.

The

Greek war of independence, was founded in Odesa in 1814 before relocating to Constantinople
in 1818.

During 1937–1938, the Pontic Greeks endured another deportation by the Soviet authorities known as the

Greek Operation of the NKVD
.

Ottoman Empire refugees (15th century–19th century)

Ukrainian SSR
(1926)

The Greeks of present-day Ukraine are mainly the descendants of various waves of especially

Russo-Turkish War
of 1828–1829, although some had settled in Ukraine in the late-19th or early-20th centuries.

Greek Civil War refugees (1946–1949)

Other Greeks arrived in Ukraine even later, particularly, as Greek Communist refugees from mainly

USSR, Czechoslovakia and other Eastern Bloc states. However, even among these late arrivals, there were many communist Greek refugees who settled in Ukraine following the Greek Civil War who were in fact Pontic Greeks or Caucasus Greeks
and therefore often had ancestors who had lived within the southern territories of the Russian Empire before settling in Greece in the early 20th century.

By the 2001 census 91,500 Greeks remained, the vast majority of whom (77,000) still lived in the Donetsk Oblast. Higher estimates such as 160,000[1] were reported previously, the fall being explained by assimilation forced by the Soviet government. Other small populations of Greeks are in Odesa and other major cities.

Russo-Ukrainian War (2014–present)

In the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, ten diaspora Greeks were killed by Russian airstrikes near the city of Mariupol.[3] In the village of Sartana, outside Mariupol, two diaspora Greeks were killed by Russian airstrikes.[4] The Russian diplomatic mission in Athens published material, according to which during the Siege of Mariupol, Greek expatriates from Mariupol claimed that Ukrainian soldiers were trying to prevent them from leaving the besieged city.[5] One Greek expatriate was reported by AFP to have perished in eastern Ukraine, in which Greece had blamed it on Ukrainian soldiers.[6][7] Following the Mariupol hospital airstrike, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis tweeted on 18 March 2022 that "Greece is ready to rebuild the maternity hospital in Mariupol, the center of the Greek minority in Ukraine, a city dear to our hearts and symbol of the barbarity of the war".[8]

Distribution

Greeks in Donetsk Oblast (2001)

Raions of Donetsk Oblast with significant Greek minority:

Raion Number of Greeks (2001) Percentage
Mariupol 21,923 4.3%
Donetsk 10,180 1.0%
Velyka Novosilka Raion 9,730 19.7%
Starobesheve Raion 7,491 13.4%
Nikolske Raion 6,223 20.0%
Telmanove Raion
 6,172 17.5%
Manhush Raion 5,882 20.1%

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Greeks in Ukraine.

References

  1. ^ http://greecenow.criticalpublics.com/GLOBAL_GREECE/DIASPORA_FACTBOOK/EUROPE/marioupolis.htm[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Statement by Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the death of two Diaspora Greeks and the serious injury of two others in the village of Granitna in Eastern Ukraine (14.02.2022)". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Prime Minister GR". Twitter. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Two more Greek expats killed in strikes in Ukraine". themanews.com. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  5. ^ "Greek expat from Mariupol: "Ukrainian soldiers tried to stop us from leaving" – Russian Embassy reposts interview (video)". themanews.com. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  6. ^ "Greece condemns 'revisionist' attack on Ukraine amid concerns over ethnic community in Mariupol". Arab News. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
  7. ^ Presse, AFP-Agence France. "Greece Condemns 'Revisionist' Russia Attack On Ukraine". www.barrons.com. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
  8. ^ Mayer, Emma (18 March 2022). "Greece Offers To Rebuild Mariupol Maternity Hospital After Russian Bombing". Newsweek. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
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