no sooner had the molotov ribbentrop pact been signed then poland was split and in september of one nine hundred thirty nine eastern poland awoke to be western ukraine and a part of the family of soviet republics and the u.s.s.r. . but even this bold dividing of lands and nations only delayed the inevitable germany broke its promise to the u.s.s.r. . on june twenty second one thousand nine hundred forty one germany invaded the u.s.s.r. launching barber rossa the largest military operation in world history. was aiming for st petersburg moscow and kiev ukraine three destinations of major significance ukraine with its rich lands and resources was an important industrial and economic source for the u.s.s.r. to cut it off from the soviet union would strike a big blow indeed. for most of the soviet union the second world war was about fighting the invaders of the land. but it wasn't quite so simple for ukraine the truth is ukraine has never been a united country. when world war two broke out a large part of western ukraine's population welcomed the german soldiers as liberators from the real.

a german protectorate another historical document that changed the fate of ukraine was the molotov ribbentrop pact of one thousand nine hundred thirty nine one of many such agreements being signed between european countries and rising germany. attempting to protect his nation from the approaching nazi threat. joseph stalin negotiated a treaty of nonaggression with adolf hitler while promising each other piece of the soviet and german foreign ministers molotov and ribbentrop realigned the map of eastern europe splitting it into german and soviet spheres of influence. no sooner had the mala tav ribbentrop pact been signed then poland was split and in september of one nine hundred thirty nine eastern poland awoke to be western ukraine and a part of the family of soviet republics and the u.s.s.r. . but even this bold dividing of lands and nations only delayed the inevitable germany broke its promise to the u.s.s.r. . on june twenty second one thousand nine hundred forty one germany invaded the u.s.s.r. launching barbara rossa the largest military operation in world history. barbara was aiming for