An overview of the history of physics and scientific research in Ukraine throughout the 20th century, with a brief introduction to earlier periods, and a discussion of the impact of the geo-political situation on scientific development there. Subjects discussed include: the Shevchenko Scientific Society (SSS), the Ukrainian Academy of Science, theoretical physics, collaboration with European scientists prior to World War II, the impact of the Stalin era on scientific research, the isolation of the post-war period and the development of nuclear physics, the effects of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster, and reflections on the post cold war period. Much of the history is told from the perspective of the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology since the two authors (Bakai and Raniuk) spent most of their professional careers there.