Iranian and other peoples lived in the area of present-day Ukraine long before the organization of Kievan 'Rus.

The best known of those groups was the nomadic Scythians, who occupied the region from about 600 BCE to 200 BCE and whose skill in warfare and horsemanship is legendary.

Between CE 100 and 900, Goths and nomadic Huns, Avars, and Magyars have passed through the region in their migrations.

Although some of them subjugated the Slavs in the region, those tribes left little of lasting importance.

More significant in this period is the expansion of the Slavs, who are agriculturists and beekeepers as well as hunters, fishers, herders, and trappers.

By 600, the Slavs were the dominant ethnic group on the East European Plain.