Too much confidence and not enough knowledge: Timothy Snyder explained what Ukrainians need to learn.

American historian and Yale University professor Timothy Snyder believes that Ukrainians should pay more attention to studying their history. He stated this in an interview with 'Mirror of the Week'.

According to Snyder, the history of Ukraine conceals many unknown facts that may surprise even those who consider themselves knowledgeable about this topic. 'I think many are unaware that the territory of Ukraine has been inhabited for a million years. I doubt many know that 40,000 years ago, after the last period of global warming, people returned to Europe through Crimea,' noted the historian.

Snyder also emphasized that Ukraine has played an important role in world history. He stressed that knowledge of these eras and phenomena is often underestimated.

'I doubt many know how important the Scythians were for Greek civilization. And I am not sure many understand that the Vikings who founded Kyiv were part of a much larger civilizational community, and that the East - Slavic, Baltic, Finnish, Turkic - had much in common with this common Viking culture. I believe that the thousand-year-old history conceals more surprises and new knowledge,' he added.

Speaking about controversial periods, particularly the Holodomor of 1932-1933 and the Holocaust, the professor believes that people also have insufficient knowledge. 'Contradictions and difficulties arise where people have too much confidence and not enough knowledge,' he stated.

In his opinion, many very large global histories associated with Ukraine remain unknown. And most Ukrainians are not aware of this. 'The true national history is a history in which the parts that form it are also part of larger global stories. Ukraine is part of great stories, but they are not the only essence of the universe. In my opinion, the territory of Ukraine is extraordinarily - and unusually - important, rich in historical events. And when you uncover this, so to speak, national history of Ukraine, if you do it right, you also really change global history,' says the professor.

Timothy Snyder also talked about how the war in Ukraine could end.