The Ukraine Scythians or Scoloti were a people of Indo-European descent that settled the steppe of southern Ukraine between the 7th and 3rd centuries BC. The Scythians were part of the broader Scythian culture that dominated North Eurasia from at least the 8th-century BC—when they were first recorded by the Greek historian Herodotus—to the time of their decline in the 2nd century. Ukraine Scythians were forced out of Central Asia but quickly established themselves as the dominant power in the Pontic steppe from where they launched attacks on Media, Syria, and Palestine, and later Persia and Thracia. The Scythians were nomadic herders of cattle, sheep, and most importantly, horses, to whom they owe their unparalleled military success.

Every Scythian, male or female, could ride a horse as soon as they could walk. Their warriors were fierce, armed to the teeth with knives and daggers and other Bronze Age weaponry, including the latest innovation in warfare—the Scythian double-curved bow. Their lethal weaponry reflected the importance the Scythian society placed on war and military prowess. The spoils of war were heaped upon the bravest and strongest warriors and woe to their foes whose scalps and skulls became trophies. The mighty female Scythian warriors were the source of nightmares for the Greek armies and may have given rise to the legend of the Amazon warriors. Alexander the Great was said to have built a great iron gate to shut off these mighty warriors and postpone the apocalypse. Yet that gate would weaken over time, and after 1000 years, the Scythians would return to spread chaos in the world, at a time that the Savior may return.

And the Greeks were not the only ones afraid. The Scythian raid of Israel in the 7th century AD left an unforgettable mark in the Hebrew Bible. There, they are called either Ashkenaz or Scythians and most of the time are not mentioned by name at all, out of fear. Though the Scythians are not mentioned by name—perhaps out of fear of these terrifying and skilled enemies—the Gog and Magog prophecies refer to the day that the Scythians would cross the Mountains of Darkness (the Caucasus Mountain range) and launch a World War.

The Scythian’s reputation lived on centuries after their disappearance. But who were the Ukrainian Scythians and the Amazons? What is true and what is legend? Are todays Ukrainians descendants of these fierce warriors? Unfortunately, the Scythians themselves did not pass on oral traditions. These ancient people, living from battle to battle, saw the beginning and the end of their Kingdom as it changed over the course of over 700 years. Therefore, up until recently, there was much controversy surrounding the Scythians and their origins due to the heterogeneity of the archeological findings and the biased historical sources about the Scythians.

In 2018, the first Scythian genomes were sequenced from skeletons found in seven sites in southern Ukraine. Empowered by these genetic findings, we can finally tell their full story and understand their relationships with the local steppe people and their surrounding tribes over time as well as trace their genetic legacy.