The Greeks of the Black Sea, an important but highly threatened diaspora

 The Greeks of the Black Sea, an important but highly threatened  diaspora 

Alexia KEFALAS

Journalist, Member of the Robert Schuman 

Foundation's Scientific Council

On 25 February, 24 hours after the start of the Russian attack in Ukraine, Greece lost two 

members of its minority. Now, more than forty Greeks from Ukraine have lost their lives, 

according to unofficial data, as figures are difficult to obtain. Since the beginning of the 

conflict, despite its historical ties with Russia, the Greek Foreign Ministry has condemned the 

invasion. Ukraine is the only country in Europe with such a large Greek community. Between 

100,000 and 150,000 Greeks are believed to live in Ukraine. Who are they? Where do they live? 

Let's trace their history.

They are known as the Black Sea Greeks. Most Greeks in Ukraine (85%) live on the shores of 

the Sea of Azov, in Mariupol, in the southeast of the country, now a besieged and martyred 

city. "Their presence in this region dates back to antiquity. In the Crimea, Greek colonies were 

indeed founded from the 8th to the 10th century BC," explains Vassilis Agtzidis, a doctor in modern 

history. "The 18th century marked an important turning point in our history," adds Nadia Tsapi, 

president of the Greek community in Mariupol. 

"Czarina Catherine II, after the reconquest of this territory, which had been dominated by the 

Ottoman Empire for 300 years following the fall of Constantinople, granted land and numerous 

privileges to the Greeks, who had come from the Crimea, in order to Christianise the region. They 

founded a new town named after the Virgin Mary, Mariupol, as well as some twenty villages in the 

surrounding area.” 

By the decrees of Catherine II in 1779 and 1790, Mariupol became the capital of Azov. 

The cultural influence of the Greeks spread: thirty-nine primary schools and six secondary 

schools were established, run by 159 teachers; newspapers and books were published; theatres, 

both professional and amateur, were established. "It is thanks to the school in Mariupol, which has 

existed since 1824, that we still speak Greek. But also thanks to the Hellenic cultural centre, located 

on Ellinon Street (Greek Street)," stresses Nadia Tsapi, who claims her "two homelands: Ukraine 

and Greece".

This community weakened after the Bolshevik revolution, when the wealthiest Greeks returned 

home. In the Odessa region alone, an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 people fled in 1920. “December 

1937, a page was turned," says historian Vassilis Agtzidis, "when the Greek minority was targeted by 

a decision of the Stalinist leadership - along with several other minority groups in the population. 

Greek education was banned, Greek schools closed, printing houses destroyed, and the autonomous 

Soviet Greek territories abolished. Hundreds lost their lives in mock trials and thousands were sent 

to concentration camps in Siberia. After the end of the Second World War, the Greeks of Crimea were 

displaced to Central Asia." 

With the onset of Perestroika, the national revival effort of the many Ukrainian Greeks began. 

According to the 2001 census, the Greeks - now Russian-speaking and Russified - 

number 93,000. Some say their real number is as high as 150,000. The current Greek government 

of Kyriakos Mitsotakis is multiplying diplomatic initiatives to evacuate this diaspora in the best 

possible conditions. The Greek Prime Minister has even offered to finance the reconstruction of the 

Mariupol theatre, which was bombed on 16 March last year while it was being used as a shelter 

by hundreds of Ukrainian and possibly Greek-Ukrainian families.

Alexia Kefalas

Journalist, Member of the Robert Schuman 

Foundation's Scientific Council

 FONDATION ROBERT SCHUMAN / 22ND MARCH 2022

The Greeks of the Black Sea, an important but highly threatened diaspora 

Publishing Director : Pascale JOANNIN

THE FONDATION ROBERT SCHUMAN, created in 1991 and acknowledged by State decree in 1992, is the main 

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