The Cossacks later moved into eastern Ukraine and during the 17th century, their leader, Bohemian Khmelnytsky, invited Russia to help against Polish domination in 1648. During the reign of Catherine the Great, the Cossacks moved to the eastern frontiers of Russia, but Ukraine remained under Russian domination, and the Russians considered the Ukrainian language as little more than a dialect of Russian.

A decree in 1876 banned the printing or importing of Ukrainian books. In spite of this, there was a revival of Ukrainian poetry and historiography during the 19th century. Ukraine enjoyed a brief period of independence from 1918 to 1919, then was taken over by the USSR and declared a Soviet Republic. During the Soviet era, Russian was the main language of education and employment and Ukrainian was sidelined. Ukraine declared independence in 1991. Since then many Ukrainian emigres have returned to Ukraine, particularly from central Asia and Siberia.