Long before Putin tried it on, long before the Soviet Union as well, Ukraine was controlled by somebody else - the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the first of a new series, Misha Glenny and Miles Warde travel to eastern Poland to find out more.
It's a tale of terrifying power politics, when an ancient European kingdom was sliced up like a cake. Beginning in Krakow, they travel by train and tiny bus in an arc around the south east to the Renaissance city of Zamosc, near the border with Ukraine.
With contributions from Norman Davies, Adam Zamoyski, Professor Natalia Nowakowska, Bartek Ziobro of Krakow Explorers and Olesya Khromeychuk of the Ukrainian Institute in London.
The image shows the Warsaw Uprising Monument which features in episode three.
This is the latest in the How to Invent a Country podcast series which has previously travelled to Germany, the USA, Scandinavia and Brazil.
Presenter Misha Glenny is a former BBC Central European correspondent and the author of McMafia.
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Miles Warde