Who are the Ethnic Greeks of Mariupol and Ukraine?

The city of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov has been under siege by Russian forces since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on the 24th of February 2022. One of the groups who call Mariupol and the surrounding region of Southern Donetsk Oblast home are ethnic Greeks, sometimes called 'Mariupol Greeks', their heritage owing to a legacy of Ancient Greek colonisation of the Black Sea stretching back to the 3rd Century BC. Find out more about them in today's video.

Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal:

UN Refugee Agency:

Unicef:

Music Used:
Lost Frontier - Kevin MacLeod
Sunday Dub - Kevin MacLeod

#Ukraine #Russia #Greek

[alovernighter]

Yeah, I remember coming as a child to buy dairy from a Greek family in Donetsk.. They used to arrive to our neighborhood every Saturday from a village near Mariupol and sell their farm-made products in our community yard.. Everything they produced was so tasty: from salty cottage cheese to fresh milk and bread. Sadly, they were probably unable to continue their business since 2014 as the 2 cities became separated by a demarcation line. I don't know what happened to them though: I haven't been at home for 8 years already :(

[Veriox]

Greek here. Unfortunately, the greeks of ukraine have suffered very much from this war. After the destruction of Mariupol, all of the greek cultural heritage sites, libraries, centers are ruined. The greeks of Mariupol have fleed their homeland and they are trying to escape to either other Ukrainian cities or Greece. Sadly, our government does little to help them.
Peace!

[developer]

As a Mariupolitan Greek, I want to express my gratitude to you for creating this historical video. I wish there were more YouTubers like you who could popularize our culture, especially the Tauro-Romaik Greeks.

[vitgrin]

I'm Ukrainian, my grandfather on my father's side he was a Pontic Greeks. he dreamed of seeing Greece, but he died back in the days of the Iron Curtain

[paulturner]

One of the amazing thing about Greeks no matter what part of the world they live, whether they speak Koine, Pontic, Cypriot, Cappadocian, Griko etc, they are still Greek. Even if they don’t speak it, or just phrases/words have crossed over into the current languages they speak. An amazing history.

[aspalathossplit]

Greeks for 3000 years.
Not even Stalin exterminated them
🇬🇷💙

[Nicky-IIII]

I'm an Australian whose father was born in Greece..His parents were actually born in the Black Sea region of Turkey (Anatolia).. We are classified as Pontic Greeks though we never spoke Pontic in my household. Though I know many Pontic Greek songs off by heart because my father was a greek musician.. So we were always aware of our roots though i always felt it was somewhat archaic and cryptic.. Just a very interesting feeling, knowing we have these roots though unable to track down the facts due to the Greek refuge crisis and the forced marches out of Anatolia.. Long Live the Caucasian Greeks 🙏 and much love to our fellow kin from all around the lands :)

[JibAcademy]

Always wanted to learn more of the history of Greeks in Ukraine. You should do a video on the the ethnic groups in Zakarpattia. Very diverse area in western Ukraine. Has a unique history apart from the rest of Ukraine.

[In_Our_Timeline]

In 1988 Soviet Ukraine the Greek poet and composer Donat Patrycha, from the Pryazovia village Maloianysol founded by Greek immigrants, first organized “Méga Giortí”(“The Big Holiday”) — a festival celebrating Greek culture.

[johnm]

The Greeks of Ukraine, of Donetsk, Donbass, of Mariupol are Salt of the Earth. There are 150 000 folk still in the city and they are the foundation of the revival and rebuilding of this beautiful City and Hellenic Culture 🕯️

[nikolasvenetidis]

As a Pontic Greek this was a very good video :)

[AsimpleLebaneseGuy]

Love 💖 Greece 🇬🇷 from Lebanon 🇱🇧
My 2nd favourite country 😁
🇱🇧 💕 🇬🇷

[michaeltnk]

A video about the Calabrian Greeks would also be interesting

[EOKAWarrior]

There's 100, 000-120, 000 Greeks in Mariupol and its surrounding villages alone, as confirmed by the Greek government. The estimates of Greeks in Crimea and Odessa are MUCH higher then you gave as well.

[cbrtdgh]

Filiki Eteria - the movement for Greek Independence from the Ottomans, was founded in Odessa in 1814.

[geo]

Being Greek I am happy to see this video and one part of our history I am proud of is that ancient Greeks were expanding by building cities and ports and not conquest and killings. They saw them mostly as trading cities with locals and thrived through trade. Another famous Greek city is Marseille that I would like to visit.
Wish you all a great day

[adamorick]

The greek ethnicity are the true natives as the Greek colonies where the original colonizers in any sustainable numbers to the region. However multiple invasions eventually destroyed thier numbers

[In_Our_Timeline]

The city was founded in 1778 as Pavlovsk, on the site of a former Cossack encampment. It was renamed Mariupol in 1779 to honour Maria Fyodorovna, In 1780 the city’s population grew rapidly after a large number of Greeks from the Crimean Peninsula were resettled there. In 1882 it was connected by rail to the Donets Basin a The city was renamed Zhdanov in 1948 for Andrey Aleksandrovich Zhdanov,

[expandedhistory]

My doctor told me I only had 10 min to live and that I should spend that time with my family. I told him Hilbert uploaded a video.

Now we’re watching this video together.

[Liebgott]

During my studies, I took part in archaeological excavations around the Sea of Azov. We were digging ancient Greek cities. My best memories are the excavations at Tanais.