TIL: During the 11th and 12 centuries, Kiev was the capitol of a medieval state called Kyivan Rus. Its ruler, Viking Volodymyr I, was the first to mint coins in about 1,000 AD. The emblem of his dynasty was the trident.

Since Kyivan Rus sat at a crossroads of important European and Middle Eastern trade routes, many countries wanted to control it. From the 13th to 18th centuries, it was conquered many times. Russia was the last conqueror, and Russia retained control until the Russian Revolution.

Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) declared independence from Russia. They issued their own bank notes to demonstrate sovereignty. They put the trident on the money, reclaiming the cultural heritage of Kyivan Rus. They put four languages on the notes: Ukrainian, Polish, Russian and Yiddish. Yiddish was added because of the large Jewish population. The UPR fell to the Soviet Union in 1922.

My comment. I don't know if this falls under the category of "symbolism will be their downfall" or maybe in the category of "its all a movie," but I find it interesting that they picked an actor who happened to have the same name as the ancient Ukrainian ruler who was the first to mint Ukrainian money.