The Greeks of Mariupol (Ukraine): Reflections on Identity in a Diaspora

Since the end of the 1980’s, more than 160,000 persons of Greek origin from the ex-Soviet Union have left their « homes » for Greece. The Greeks of the Ukraine, one of the three largest Greek communities of the ex-Soviet Union, joined this movement later. In the Ukraine, nearly all Greeks reside in the city and in the region of Mariupol, on the banks of the Azov River. This article presents the Greeks of Mariupol, their history and their linguistic identity, from Czarist Russia to the Soviet Union era and on to the post-Soviet Ukraine, and explores their relations with Greece in today’s context.