[citation needed] The historical community of Albanians in Ukraine call themselves ga tantë (from ours) and they speak a language si neve (like us).

Yet, they trace their ancestry to Tosk Albanians (southern dialect) who in the 16th century settled in eastern Bulgaria (Despotate of Dobruja) along with Gagauz people.

[citation needed] Some Albanian immigrants to the Russian Empire from Bulgaria settled primarily in the vicinity of Odesa and Budzhak.

[3] Due to defeat of Russia in the Crimean War, many Albanians moved to the east Ukraine in 1861 and resettled there.

In 1911, Albanian Orthodox priest and national awakening figure Fan Noli met there with members the community in Odesa, and held a mass in the local church.

After World War II, the major study on Albanians of the Southern Ukraine was conducted by the academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yulia Ivanova.

[2] In 1957 with help of the academician Agnia Desnitskaya at the Saint Petersburg State University was opened the Department of Albanian language.