History Summarized: The Splendor of Kyiv

[@OverlySarcasticProductions]

Error at 5:40 - the church became Catholic after the Union of Brest in 1596. Not entirely sure how I screwed that one up, but I will endeavor to Not Do That Again in the future. -B

[@boardtoonsguy]

I didn't even notice that mistake tbh, probably 'cause I suck at dates. But thank u for pointing it out. And for ur video in general.

[@oiaeyu]

Thank you for your dedication! Another mistake you might want to fix is that you fell for the nationalist trap around 6:36 in your attempt to support Ukraine. St. Basil's is a beautiful and exceptional cultural product of the regions' people and history. Don't be that American who fawns over every white washed building with a dome cause their simple sensibilities are limited to classical Western European architecture.

[@Loreboar0]

@@oiaeyuYou did not have to be so harsh in your critique. That got way too personally rude.

[@TheRezro]

Major correction. According to most recent research Slavs inhabited region of Vistula from at least 1'st century. Originating in region of Eastern Galicja. Idea that Slavs originate in 6'th century imigrantom, as result of Huns (aka Hungarians) is true, but regard South Slavs and it did happen toward south, not west as they were cut from rest of the population known by West Romans as Veneti. But they didn't have direct contact, as such they were not recognized as Slavs until modern research. While Southern Slavs known as Sclaveni (or Serbs), were recorded by East Rome, giving the name Slavs. And for centuries it was assumed to be origin of whole group. To make things worst, later Frans who later become modern Germans, call Western Slavs Wend's, what add to confusion. And on top of that part of Wands adopt Christianity, calling themselves Bohemians, Moravians and Poles. And in 16'th century Mongolized Slavs from Muscovy swamp, start they imperial agenda of eradicating all Slavs in name of German Tzars. But I digress.

[@oiaeyu]

@@Loreboar0 I think I was quite proportional since what was said was arguably equally as personal to Eastern Europeans. If Blue can throw shade, he can take it.

[@theanimeunderworld8338]

I can always count on Blue for appreciating architecture like he's a demigod of Athena

[@mirjanbouma]

I mean we can be sure he *isn't* 😊

[@TheMisterDarknight]

New osp lore just dropped

[@GCNG_SallyVanna]

is that a percy jackson reference? :)

[@theanimeunderworld8338]

@@GCNG_SallyVanna Athena's an architecture goddess And a little of pjo yes

[@alexandercandicedad1355]

Headcanon accepted

[@DomyTheMad420]

i can feel my art history teacher throwing lit fuckin' textbooks at my head as he learns i suddenly find the architectural development and inspirations of this marvelous church FASCINATING

[@mirjanbouma]

That's a mood but for my regular history teachers 😂

[@Voc_spooksauce]

Well it's not your fault Blue makes it way more interesting to listen to

[@Exaldear]

​@Voc_spooksauce bite size, comedic and actually enjoyed by the teacher (Blue) is better than dates in a textbook.

[@jinxcat90]

I was raised in Russian Orthodox, but my family traces itself to late 1890s Ukraine. Blue, you highlighting this country and its history is so special to me. P.S. My grandfather got to visit this church in 1988 and he says you did a great job.

[@kingofcards9]

God bless you ✝️

[@Shiranu17]

@@thatcooltree "Political views?" The genocide of my people was not political, it was just one more dark ethical stain upon the rotten moral fabric of Russian society for the last 400 years.

[@Featheryfaith7]

Russia and Ukraine have been in war with each other for so many years due to the oil industry and other resources.

[@kingofdragons7]

​@@thatcooltreeno, Russia is evil

[@baileygregory9192]

Yeah ukrianian came under the authority of the Russian orthodox Church that's why

[@fabr1cat0rgeneral94]

"Weirdly inept about it" is a perfect description of the war so far.

[@kacperdrabikowski5074]

That cyryllic dunce cap really made me do a double take.

[@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842]

I'd laugh at it more, if not for the amount of disgusting and horrifying war crimes, Russians have committed. Worthy of mockery and contempt both.

[@juliasophical]

Yeah, the Russian military went from being considered the second best in the world to being the second best in Ukraine (and for a short while during the Wagner incident, the second best in Russia) 🙄

[@palehorseman8386]

I must admit I was one of those people saying- Ukraine, we hardly knew you and now you will be gone 😢

[@fist-of-doom487]

@@juliasophical the funniest thing I learned is that it gave second hand embarrassment to the US military because for decades they were building weapons to counteract the weapons Russia claimed to have and now looking at Russia in action and it turns out Russia lied about pretty much everything and now America has disgustingly powerful weapons for no real reason. Gave the US Military combat blue balls and just said “we made all this stuff for nothing?!”

[@sorenrohrbach2361]

Seeing the way you've been using architecture to explain history the way Max Miller uses the history of a recipe/food is actually really cool and engaging. From what I understand you've had some trouble in the past finding an angle that's fun for you to explain and helps your half of the channel stand out among other history creators, so seeing how much you enjoy using architecture as your means of education me really happy

[@SamBrockmann]

The meaning of the name/word "Sophia" is "wisdom". This church and Hagia Sophia are meant to reflect the concept of Godly, Biblical wisdom.

[@silverletter4551]

I used that name for that reason. It's a good name.

[@DoremiFasolatido1979]

Indeed. All that divine wisdom of enslaving people, committing genocide, rape, eternal torment for minuscule slights, the pathological deception... I'll give some religions the credit of having brought forth some truly amazing art. But that's it. That is all they're ever getting credit for. And frankly, none of the Abrahamic religions are getting any credit for anything.

[@bixmcgoo5355]

if it's biblical it's not likely wise, the bible is a story book of crazy sand people and their sky fairy

[@Sootielove]

That's actually really sweet. A family of Ukrainian refugees my family hosted just had a baby named Sophia and I hope the name suits her :D

[@audiobooksforfree7857]

@@Sootielove My bestie when I was 6 was named Sophia, and she was ukrainian.

[@lenax9798]

As someone born in this city but never heard the story behind the most important church, I really appreciate you telling this!!!

[@side-beeetaloniswolfwolfac4179]

I wish you and your loved ones good fortune in those times.

[@lenax9798]

@@side-beeetaloniswolfwolfac4179 Thank you but not needed. I don't live in Ukraine anymore and have no family that I care about living there. Still, it's horrible what's happening to my beloved city...

[@KinaliBZP]

Same story here, love to hear it!

[@dewmilk7266]

I hope you and your loved ones are in a safe location for

[@catnap387]

Cherish your heritage

[@Rukdug]

Prince Volodymyr: "I want people wondering 'How did they do that? That should be impossible' a thousand years from now when they walk inside." Mosiac crew somehow literally doing something they shouldn't be able to do based on materials of the time: "Don't worry boss, we got you."

[@mikaroni_and_cheez]

The mosaics were held together strong through the power of pure artistic might.

[@Featheryfaith7]

Nah, through updates and by God's blessings. Orthodox Christians do maintenance periodatically. The one Orthodox church in Centralia is still standing and so was the one in New York. ☦

[@mikaroni_and_cheez]

@@Featheryfaith7 that makes sense! Idk why we don't usually think ancient places weren't taken care of but I certainly fell for it.

[@adambielen8996]

It isn't that they did something that shouldn't be possible then, because clearly they did it. But rather we no longer know how they knew what to do.

[@Featheryfaith7]

@@mikaroni_and_cheez Im Orthodox. God said to take care of house because it resembles your soul. Godliness is cleanlyness. Its in the Bible. ☦

[@grahamkristensen9301]

Kyiv: "Good afternoon sir. Could we interest you in some domes?" Blue: "Domes? Did you say... domes?" Volodymyr: "Yes sir! With or without gold?" Blue: "Domes? DOMES? DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMES!!!!!!!!!!!""

[@JAGzilla-ur3lh]

I understood that reference.

[@christina-tm]

Hahahahaha

[@lonotalonota5779]

"I remember when they first invented domes, I always LOVED IT"

[@matthewzaslavets8423]

There is a story told in schools that says that Christianity was chosen because it doesn't ban wine and the Kniaz hated the idea of not drinking it anymore

[@oliverschoneck7750]

Didnt he also say no to judaism and islam due to his love of pork?

[@matthewzaslavets8423]

@@oliverschoneck7750 that I do not know, it's been a while since I was in school

[@patrickfrost9405]

@@oliverschoneck7750 Bacon, bacon, bacon.

[@thevaeringi]

“Booze is the joy of the Rus” or something like that 😂

[@FuzzyStripetail]

In addition to being unbreakably beautiful, Saint Sophia Cathedral was also a boatload of fun because it could dock Volodymyr's very pretty red and gold boat.

[@RK-cj4oc]

What?

[@killerlork]

​@@RK-cj4ocI'm assuming they're referring to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine? It may be a dig at the alleged corruption that was present in the country before it was invaded by genocidal fascists?

[@chloepainter4064]

It doesn’t look like it’s on a waterfront in any of the pictures??

[@patchcoatgrey3434]

I have said it before, I will say it again. Orthodox faith knows their decor style, and they do it in a phenomenal way that stuns the onlooker. So pretty

[@merrittanimation7721]

I like that Basil II is represented by a sprig of basil

[@fidanguliyeva519]

Are we going to completely overlook the fact that Blue just elevated the "DOME" joke to a whole new level at 1:29?? the near hysterical giggle i had is unmatched

[@kjj26k]

What does it mean?

[@fidanguliyeva519]

@@kjj26k Blue spelled "dome" using the greek alphabet 😂

[@samfisher6606]

"Russia again, again, but somehow their weirdly inept about it" caught me off guard. I laughed so hard!

[@alifkazeryu8228]

you know what's bad about it? Russia refuse to quit, that's what. inept as they might be, they certainly aren't a quitter.

[@ivandankob7112]

@@alifkazeryu8228ordinary ruzzian would rather die for his tzar than accept that he failed to submit Ukraine It’s not about being a “quitter” it’s about being dumbly stubborn

[@billywarren007]

Ukrainian Architecture, always beautiful

[@theanimeunderworld8338]

I can always count on Blue for appreciating architecture like he's a demigod of Athena

[@kingofcards9]

A nice perk of Christianity.

[@baileygregory9192]

You mena rus architecture

[@chillzedd8179]

love me some Ukrainian modernist architecture

[@billywarren007]

@@baileygregory9192 no I mean Ukrainian

[@Flame-rp6yq]

I think it’s amazing that one could stand in a cathedral where nobility, clergy, and just normal everyday people once stood, possibly standing in the same spot an old ancestor stood, gazing up at the once younger ceiling with the same awe of the twinkling eyes of saints, marveling at the same architecture and grandeur wrought in stone

[@spicy_seagull]

I was born in Kyiv! And I am named Sofiya after the Cathedral, I go by Sonya tho. Wonderful video thank you for highlighting the city I was born in and my family lived in.

[@GCNG_SallyVanna]

I am from Ukraine and Blue you and your crew really showed the whole history of Sofiïvs`kyi sobor very clearly. a great video as always :)

[@oleksaderzybis9052]

Greetings from Kyiv and thanks for sharing this to the world! +

[@florian8599]

5:39 Fun fact: The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Syro-Malabar Church are the two largest non-Latin churches within the Universal Roman Catholic Church.

[@danukil7703]

Very nice video, thank you very much for drawing the attention of the English-language KZbin history community to Sofiïvs`kyi sobor! Furthermore, thank you for providing the charitable links 💙💙💛💛

[@КатяТамахіна]

As a Kyivan, who sees this cathedral frequently, thank you so much for this video!! Fun fact: we call it Софія Київська sometimes (Kyivan Sofiya or Sofia of Kyiv in English)

[@theanimeunderworld8338]

Osp, better than many history teachers

[@eldaross8646]

This is true

[@antonio0apv]

The explanation is easy: your history teachers have to be scientific about what they teach, this channel has nothing to do with historiography and all about the author projecting his fantasies and narratives into the past. Historiography gets most people (understandably) bored, historical fantasy gets your monetized videos clicks. History is about asking questions, not about justifying modern narratives using linear, teleological simplifications of complex stuff.

[@macweldon6643]

@@antonio0apv There's something to be said for driving interest but you're right that this channel doesn't do what history class does. People are being very unfair to compare their teachers 40 minutes lecture every day to OSPs 10 minute edited videos one a week.

[@antonio0apv]

@@macweldon6643 For me the worst part is that kids watching this kind of videos require an extra effort from teachers; they don't only require being taught history, first they need to get these simplifications and contemporary projections into the past out of their systems. I can imagine how hard it is to combat things like "but (X modern Nation State) exists since the XII Century i saw it on KZbin" on a bunch of kids or adolescents, it's literally teaching them history not from zero but from minus 50. In my view the driving interest thing doesn't compensate because you are driving interest into things that are plainly wrong and the interest might dissapear once you explain history is not about "good venetians they are awesome unlike evil whomever", "1000 year old national ukranian identity" or whatever. It's just not worth it and puts a lot of effort into already overworked teachers, not to mention the ammunition you are giving to all short of nationalists and racists to feed their hate with this kind of stuff. Audiovisual history for kids and teens can be done with at least a minimum of respect for historiography, but then you loose all the clicks and the money. It really is frustrating, sad and even dangerous.

[@patrickfrost9405]

@@antonio0apv Most historians nowadays see themselves as activists. Blue doesn't have the freedom of being able to spew BS in the classroom, as other youtubers can and will call him out and keep him in line.

[@PARIZHANIN13]

Thank you for a video! St. Sophia definitely a great place to visit, probably at least several times. The fact that it was reconstructed during Cossack Hetmanate adds on even more to look for, since some mosaics are newly painted, some are from 11 century (including scratches like "Olaf was here" :) ), and some are a combination of both. Truly great place to visit always, our air defense is doing their best to save Kyiv and beautiful places in it.

[@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842]

"Olaf was here"? Can you share the source on this one. I tried to google it, but phrase gives me nothing. I know, that in Hagia Sophia in Istanbul there is a well-known viking inscription and a few others. But I never heard about similar ones in Kyiv's Saint Sophia Cathedral.

[@PARIZHANIN13]

@@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842 Well, my reply disappeared. My primary source is my own eyes, though I can't remember everything exactly, only that I definitely saw some Scandinavian names in those inscriptions (Olaf was just an example, I can't remember specifics). Most though are Rus texts of different kinds. And "X was here" was quite popular. There are a ton of sources in Ukrainian about inscriptions, but I don't think they were studied and catalogued enough, science is sadly not the priority now due to war. The thing Ukrainian scholars are exited about the most is that we can understand those texts, they are mostly in Cyrillic and in quite comprehensible to us language.

[@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842]

Yeah, I know. Sometimes replies disappear. My best hypothesis currently is that the auto-moderator on KZbin catches word combinations in the post, but does not account for the word order. So the longer your post is the more likely it'll trip the alarm falsely.

[@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842]

@@PARIZHANIN13 I would have to search more thoroughly I guess. Sounds interesting. I managed to google about the inscriptions with the word "grafiti" (which I didn't consider can used be for carvings). It seems that there was found 7,5 thousand inscriptions, but online you could see or read only about very few of them. Sad you can't recall the names. Maybe it is available in special archaeology literature or if I'll ever get a chance to visit Sophia.

[@PARIZHANIN13]

@@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842 I definitely plan to go there more, so maybe I'll try to remember specific names then. Last time I was there almost a year ago. Yeah, my post was longer and with links, maybe latter it didn't like.

[@oofoof4875]

lol as a gardener i like how you depictd basil ii as a basil plant

[@losing_marbles2538]

as a ukr i love you for this blue THIS MADE ME SO HAPPY ¡¡¡ youre always so well spoken and respectful towards other cultures and history =:,))) thank you for this beautiful vid

[@МаксимТодоров-и6х]

Thank you for videos about Ukraine. We didn’t have a voice to global world all these years

[@hawkingstar1698]

Aw hell yeah, I just got out of a research meeting and I get to see this

[@peffiSC2source]

Thank you so much for putting a spotlight on Ukraine once more and for your channel's donation drive. It means a lot. I hope I can one day visit Ukraine again with my cousin who is from there.

[@squidtentacles9585]

Thank you from Crimea!

[@morsuss]

Comment to push this video through the algorithm!! And thank you lots for it!!

[@agnozythehearthead]

Good prononciation on the words! Overall, it's really nice to see people outside of Ukraine doing historical and cultural content about our heritage!

[@Bacopa68]

I've learned to read a little Cyrillic. But do stop signs really say "stop" in Cyrillic as they do in English? I have seen this many times and almost don't believe it.

[@agnozythehearthead]

@@Bacopa68 , there are two kinds of stop signs, a red octagonal uses English, and a plain white bar uses a whatever language it is at. Octagon ones are much more popular.

[@veldrensavoth7119]

6:40 those domes are beautiful, Stop the cap. That’s style. Seeing all that color in the snow. Beautiful Blue come on.

[@jlee4039]

I see a video celebrating Ukraine, I click. That simple. 🇺🇦❤️🇺🇸

[@compatriot852]

0:23 *Lithuania. Algirdas was the one who conquered the lands that are now Ukraine from the Golden Horde. These remained in the Grand Duchy for centuries until the southern portions were transferred to the Kingdom of Poland as an autonomous territory during the Commonwealth era

[@Artur_M.]

Yeah, except for the Halych Rus (the Red Rus/Ruthenia, the Kingdom of Ruthenia, whichever name you prefer), which was incorporated into the Kingdom of Poland by Casimir the Great. Also, the information about Kyiv being under the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1362 to 1569 is in the video - in that text at 5:40. Regardless, it would be great if they made a dedicated video about the GDL and how not only modern Lithuanians but also Belarusians see their roots in that realm (and how its legacy is also important to Poland and Ukraine).

[@GoDLiKeKakashi]

@@Artur_M. Ruthenia was split as part of a deal between Lithuania and Poland, as I recall. It would actually be quite interesting in this talk about Orthodox churches to mention about the rivarly between Ruthenia, Lithuania and Moscow to be recognised as the true successors to the Kievan Rus during Gediminas reign by Constantinople, but I won't hold my breath about any major history channel on youtube ever talking about Lithuania as anything other than a footnote in Poland's history lol.

[@compatriot852]

​@@GoDLiKeKakashiYeah, it's really annoying how sidelined the grand duchy of Lithuania is on history channels. Centuries of one of the last pagan European nations skipped/relegated to a footnote.

[@TenositSergeich]

@@compatriot852 I can tell you, it is sordidly sidelined in Ukraine as well. More attention is given to dismissive treatment of Poland. Grand Duchy of Lithuania is complicated, but also it is really interesting - membership in it is basically what set Belarusians and Ukrainians apart from what today is Russia not just politically, but culturally to a large degree.

[@Fankas2000]

@@compatriot852 That's just how Lithuania (not just GDL) is treated in general.

[@jeremy1860]

Shout out to any Ukrainians who see this comment. You've got a marvellous country, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise 😊

[@DimaJeydar]

🇺🇦 ❤

[@boardtoonsguy]

Thank u!

[@DocumentaryFanboy]

Thanks man, we appreciate this!!

[@thosebloodybadgers8499]

And what if that anyone is myself?

[@evercreepy]

thank u 💛💙

[@Stoneworks]

I'm fighting Kyiv's mosaics this afternoon I'll let you know how it goes Edit: I'm not posting that bruh Kyiv mosaics got hands.

[@kingofcards9]

✝️

[@mamai_eth]

Thanks for covering this! From Ukraine under attack

[@tyrant-den884]

Saint Sofia also makes sense if he is trying to convert his people too; awes and educates at the same time.

[@A2ndVoice]

now that gentle shots got fired at St. Basil's, can we see an episode regarding it? the history has got to be interesting enough

[@Commedeshommes]

@Blue can you do a video about the history and architecture of St Basil’s Cathedral? It’s got all the domes you could possibly want 😁

[@maryward8843]

Can’t think of a better way to start the day!

[@HeisenbergFam]

If Overly Sarcastic was school's history teacher, he would be many peoples favorite

[@nerdywolverine8640]

his name is blue, don't slight the other pillars of the channel lol (red)

[@kbye2321]

@@nerdywolverine8640 But isn’t his name Gregory though?

[@Iyumni]

Hey!! M' boy!! Thanks for showing some love to the old county again. Slava Ukraine!

[@catnap387]

Excellent short video. Ukraine is truly wonderful. The world needs a free sovereign Ukraine. God bless Ukraine! 💙💛

[@mishaf19]

AS A UKRAINIAN THANK YOU YOU’RE SO COOL BLUE

[@VeRG1L_47]

As a Ukrainian, i thank you, Blue 💙.

[@Supavillain23]

that was fucking great, cossack baroque doesn't get mentioned enough. much love from Kyiv ❤

[@nsahandler]

Legend says that whenever Blue is really annoyed thinking about the burning of the Library of Alexandria, Cyan gives him good dome to calm down.

[@JimBob4233]

OSP Dome Leave is a lot more literal than when KJB does it

[@Maxisamo1]

That means two things

[@Vilexxica]

Bro that's kind of a weird and creepy thing to say about A) the personal lives of complete strangers who are B) openly asexual

[@JimBob4233]

@@Vilexxica Sure, if you want to take it as a euphemism rather than just saucily-worded-but-literally-correct

[@nsahandler]

@@Vilexxica issa joke Being asexual doesn't eschew them from a sense of humor and clever wordplay bruh Get that through your dome

[@SlimeConsumer]

OMG this is so unexpected but so welcomed video. Thank you for support! This truly mean a lot to us. And the video itself is super interesting as well. As a person who was born and raised in Kyiv I sometimes takes for granted our history (I've never been inside of Sofia Sobor but only in a belltower and a courtyard of the cathedral) and now I think that I have to see all this beautiful art! 💙💛

[@leonardrodriguez1501]

Good way to start my con weekend

[@raulruiz5313]

love it!

[@chelseawhite7117]

“Holy dunk tank” made me chortle hard

[@Hawktalon07]

Ever think you’ll talk about the Rusyns? They’re a less-known group of Slavic areas, countries, and peoples that have a presence in both the Eastern European places they come from, but also in the northeastern US, similar to the Pennsylvania Dutch!

[@zoemccoy7799]

To call the Rus' strictly Ukrainian is probably inaccurate as there was likely not a proto-nationalism at the time. The Rus' were a loose group of decentralized East Slavic states, some ruled by Norsemen early on such as Kievan Rus'/Kyivan Rus'. Their descendants later became Belarusians, Russians, Ukrainians, and Rusyns.

[@ezrafriesner8370]

I mean there’s a reason he only refers to the people as Ukrainian after the church is built in the video. Before then he refers to the people as the kyivan rus. You are correct, although one could make a suggestion that the rus tribes that lived in the area around Kyiv would be the particular tribes of rus that would go on to become the proto-Ukrainians

[@Art210495]

@@ezrafriesner8370 except that it is not quite correct, seeing that Kiev was quite literally a cosmopolitan centre of the Rus people during the times of the Kievan Rus, it got severely depopulated along with the entire southern parts of Rus during the mongol invasion (the Rus put up a lot of resistance - mongols didn’t like it and razed entire cities - one of such stories is the city of Kozelsk, called “Angry city” by Batu-khan after it relented and refused to surrender, fighting to the last man). Modern Ukrainians are actually a mix of remnants of the pre-mongol local population and various groups of runaway orthodox peasants that fled tatar- and later ottoman-controlled Black Sea coast, as well as ones who wanted to escape serfdom in Russia and Poland-Lithuania, forming the free communes of people known as Cossacks.

[@ezrafriesner8370]

@@Art210495 your final words seem to agree with me, with a lot of winding to get there? Italians are genetically descended from the romans, even if Greeks, Goths, Arabs and countless others have also moved to Italy over the millennia. The Ukrainians are descended from the original rus tribes around Kyiv, even if mongols, tatars, other Slavic groups and countless others have moved to Ukraine over the millennia

[@Art210495]

@@ezrafriesner8370 except this popular genesis and separation of eastern slavic peoples happened much later down the line after the Holy Sofia of Kiev/Kyiv was constructed, thus making Blue’s mentioning of Ukrainians in this context anachronistic and, well, wrong. Italians didn’t build the colosseum, their roman ancestors did. But then, again, it os difficult to explain what is wrong, as the eastern slavs (at least, Russians and Ukrainians) have this unique relationship with their common ancestry, where both peoples share a good chunk of their history and claim it as an integral part of their culture, without a lot of separation happening. The other notable example might be what Moldovans and Romanians have these days. French and Italians revere their ancient cultural sites while attributing them to Rome and Romans, yet for Russians and Ukrainians the Rus are not a separate people, but their direct ancestors. Thus Ukrainian sources tell of Ukrainian states with Ukrainian princes while Russian sources tell of Russian states with Russian princes, talking about the same places and figures (Volodymyr I/Vladimir I, for instance - those are literally different spellings of the same name and ruler who baptized the Rus) - and those are neither examples of Ukrainian revisionist nationalism nor examples of Russian imperialism - both of those accounts are true the same way as two children would talk about their common father as distinctly theirs.

[@catnap387]

The Rus on today's Ukraine exhibited their own (Ukrainian) style

[@PiskeyFaeri]

Settling in to wait for the obligatory dome joy

[@HBHaga]

I am a simple man. I see domes, I click.

[@purplehaze2358]

I joked about it before, but this series sometimes spends more time talking about architecture than it does actual history.

[@JoRdi-ul4xg]

I wonder why...

[@V972]

Thank you for this great video, cheers from Ukraine!

[@billberndtson]

Love you folks ❤

[@erikeverson7812]

"Greek Catholic" churches are not that hard to find. There's one down the street from me, and nearly every major metropolitan area I've ever looked for one has had one.

[@Hhhhhhhhhhy]

😏😏Props on the subtle ‘good dome’ joke; it made me snort-laugh loudly enough to startle my sleeping cat.

[@ramork1]

good job!

[@boooksareamazing]

I’m honestly quite surprised this church didn’t make it onto the top 5 best domes list. Cause really, what more can you want from a dome church than this?

[@Seles_t]

As a ukrainian, it's refreshing to see content in English that uses correct terms when refering to our history (such as Rus' and Kniaz). Thanks)

[@mrrey3481]

Thank you for making this video and being so on point with out history and spirit as well! It's refreshing to see, really. Been watching your videos for years, and here's hoping will continue for years to come. Much love from Ukraine

[@DocumentaryFanboy]

As a Ukrainian, this is amazing!!! Thanks Blue!!

[@silverletter4551]

Are you going to pay my country back for its loans?

[@DocumentaryFanboy]

@@silverletter4551 Are you going to continue being needlessly political

[@ezrafriesner8370]

@@silverletter4551I’ve seen you in the comments a lot, you some tankie or some shit?

[@MojaveMoron]

​@@silverletter4551are you going to do anything other than pick useless fights online?

[@baneofbanes]

@@silverletter4551they pay us in dead Russian soldiers.

[@RJ_Ehlert]

Nice.

[@esataleharbour3492]

I really love your videos! Thank you for making Ukraine videos I really think that in its own way it helps the war effort by keeping the struggle in people's minds and that's very important when Ukraine is relying on so much foreign aid. The pen is mightier than the sword after all!

[@silverletter4551]

War is wrong, and if they can't afford war, they should not put their people through such struggle.

[@esataleharbour3492]

@@silverletter4551 it's Russia that's putting them through it. Every nation has a right to defend itself

[@silverletter4551]

@@esataleharbour3492 No, it doesn't. It means humans are forced to its defense, therefore depriving humans of rights. For a state which isn't a person and has no rights of its own.

[@esataleharbour3492]

@@silverletter4551 Ukraines army is made of volunteers. How is a person willing signing up to defend their home from invaders a violation of human rights? Isn't Russia violating human rights by using conscription? Not to mention all the inherent violation of the Ukrainian peoples rights by bombing there homes. Russia and its military are the ones violating human rights.

[@Regfife]

@@silverletter4551 If you aren't going to defend the nation you depend on to PROTECT your rights, then don't live there. Freedom is not free.

[@Akitsunesceilingfan]

Very interesting!!

[@humanbeing1803]

Thank you so much for covering this, I grew up in Kiev (but was only allowed to learn russian for some reason) but live in Australia now and I love it whenever people notice our country exists in the first place and our wonderful history.

[@witcher_ost]

As a Ukrainian, I really appreciate the fact, that our history is interesting to so many people around the world, and especially to this channel😊 you are our Prometheus's fire 🔥 But also wanted to say, that when we are talking about Prince Volodymyr, Yaroslav, Sviatoslav etc. in Ukrainian we use word "князь"(kniaz) as more of "uncrown king" than "prince", because they are so important to our history and because of their achievements. But if we need to distinguish who of "uncrown kings"(princes) was a ruler at that time (for example after the death of Prince Volodymyr) we would say "великий князь"(velyky kniaz) like "The Great uncrown king". It's just that, when you hear word "Prince" you think about some king's son, not the ruler itself and this isn't right because, aside from being crowned by Pope, these "princes" held as much power and authority as kings of Europe (thanks to this fact Prince Yaroslav successfully married his daughters to kings of Europe and became "The Europe's father-in-law")

[@zidarose]

But how are the domes? Ok, it was explained. There are expectations when any dome is shown. I love learning about new places.

[@Pakejji]

3:16 TWO HRYVNYAS SHOWN LESSSS GOOOOOOOOOO

[@shadowldrago]

I have nothing clever to add, I just think this is an interesting video.

[@EpsoofKyiv]

Happy to see my home long time sub tnx❤

[@juliusnovachrono4370]

Something that always has amazed me about Ukraine and most churches in general is the architecture

[@TaranAlvein]

6:37 - Oh my God, you killed me. I was NOT expecting Dschinghis Khan to show up in a history video. Edit: At least, not one that's not actually about him.

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

We all hope these fine works of art would not e damaged by the war.

[@boardtoonsguy]

Yay, another video on my country! As a ukrainian: thank u! I enjoyed this video even more then I enjoyed ur last video on Ukraine. It has even less mess-ups then that 1 and u told the story of 1 of our most important and old churches perfectly. I mean, it was built in at the beginning of 11th (!) century and survived all that! And thank u for including the link to UNITED24. It is a very important initiative for us ukrainians. With ❤ from 💙💛!

[@rosswiseman5991]

6:41 I admit I'm not sure if it was a joke, but excuse you, sir, St. Basil's is gorgeous. Perhaps important to note I do not support Russia, I just think St. Basil's is a very pretty building.

[@georgiykhara6917]

Thank you so much. I am Ukrainian, and I appreciate the effort and love put into your video! It was indeed exciting and I got to know more about my own city!

[@keepperspective]

Great history, architecture, and great reminder of Ukraine! Thank you for keeping this at the top of our minds.

[@unusualhistorian1336]

Keep up the good work, your videos are excellent!

[@elizaripper]

I worry that Blue will one day leave to pursue his true dream: Dome Chaser.

[@oleksee]

I really appreciate you making this video. It's interesting, it shows lots of domes and it has some valid donation links. As a ukrainian and a long-time fan I cannot be more grateful to you. That you're interested and you care really truly means a lot.

[@DimaJeydar]

Oh man, what a great surprise! 🇺🇦 ❤ Excellent video, Ukranian pronunciations for names! (though your Kyiv sounds more like Kiev but that’s ok) and a great roast of those churches that I chuckled at. Thank you! Hope you’ll have the chance to see The Domes™ (safely) in person soon!

[@VadymZakrevskyy]

Great video!

[@khartog01]

Slava Ukraine.

[@ndr-153]

Героям слава

[@Emily-tv1iz]

I love how the survival of this monument essentially boils down to "it's so cool-looking even [insert invading asshole group here] thought it should stay" and this happened multiple times over the millennium.

[@vdaniel2001]

Thanks for the right writing of names. This makes a difference ❤

[@silverletter4551]

For propaganda purposes likely

[@Dragoflare]

Another amazing video, Blue. Thanks for sharing this amazing slice of history with us.

[@ponyote]

будьте сильні товариші

[@heaththeemissary3824]

Thank you. Thank you for the simple act of recognizing the existence of the Ukrainian people and their particular expression of beauty.

[@OstblockLatina]

Thank you so much for making this video and doing the fundraiser with it, what a beautiful initiative on your part! Slava Ukraini! It is terrible what Russian Empire and Soviet Union, as also Russia had been doing and continues to do to Ukraine's cultural heritage throughout centuries. St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery's story alone is absolutely dismaying.

[@megancampbell983]

I have a REQUEST! PLEASE! Your videos are so great and in the best way possible, they are super great for falling asleep to... except for the parts where it goes **FULL WHITE SCREEN** Can you please make a separate Playlist or something where all of those are blackscreen or like reversed or literally anything. Will repost in several places hoping you will see ❤❤

[@fpteamkvitka6223]

As a native I’m so happy to see OSP cover Ukraine and it’s heritage

[@ltpinecone]

Love these history videos!