The presence of Jews on Ukrainian lands dates to antiquity, and that recognition of their status as citizens dates to the eighth century in the Khazar Empire and to the thirteenth century in Galicia-Volhynia?

The presence of Jews on the territory of Ukraine dates to antiquity. Hellenized Greek-speaking Jews first settled in Crimea in Panticapaeum (today’s Kerch) in the first century BCE. Archaeological findings attest to the presence of Jews in Chersonesus as early as the first century CE and to the existence of an organized Jewish community there in the late fourth through early fifth centuries.

In the early 630s, the Jewish population increased with the arrival of Byzantine Jews fleeing forced conversion in areas of Crimea bordering Byzantium. The Khazar Empire in the eighth century was the first polity to incorporate Jews on the territory of Ukraine. In the thirteenth century, Danylo, Prince of Galicia and first King of Rus’, welcomed Armenians, Germans, Jews, and Poles to settle in his realm, particularly in the cities, to which they would bring their advanced artisanal and commercial skills and promote prosperity. At the crossroads of several important trade routes, the western Ukrainian city of Lviv thus acquired a crucial position in international trade.