Bulgarians Of Ukraine

Bulgarians are one of the national minorities on the territory of Ukraine.

The mass resettlement of Bulgarians to the territory of modern Ukraine was the result of the discriminatory policy of the Ottoman Empire against the Christian population. The most mass resettlements of Bulgarians to the territory of Bessarabia took place from the second half of the 18th century to the 30s of the 19th century. During the same period, most Bulgarian villages were founded, including Dermendere, Cheshma-Varuita, Kairaklia, Vaisal, Banovka and many others. Often these villages were named by Bulgarian settlers in honor of the villages from which they moved from the territory of Bulgaria.

The second major wave of Bulgarian resettlement is the period of 1860s, when Bulgarians moved to the territory of the Pryazovia region (present-day Zaporizhzhia Oblast) from Bessarabia or directly from Bulgaria (in smaller numbers). Many Bulgarian villages in these lands were founded on the place of Nogai auls. Traditionally in scientific literature they are referred to as Priazovian Bulgarians or Taurian Bulgarians. At the moment, the Bulgarian population of Zaporizhzhia Oblast lives mainly in Melitopol and Berdyansk districts (since 2022 in occupation).

There were also Bulgarian villages on the territory of Crimea. Many Crimean Bulgarians suffered from the 1944 deportations. According to the decision of the State Defense Committee, Bulgarians, Greeks and Armenians were evicted from the territory after the Crimean Tatars in June 1944.

Bulgarian women, Botiyeve (Zaporizhzhia Oblast), 1930s.
Memorial of Bulgarian migrants in Raynivka village (Zaporizhzhia Oblast)
Bulgarian women in national dress, 1928. Botiyeve (Zaporizhzhia Oblast).
A dilapidated church in the Bulgarian village of Rainivka (Zaporizhzhia Oblast).