Portal:Ukraine
The Ukraine Portal - Портал України
Ukraine Україна (Ukrainian) | |
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ISO 3166 code | UA |
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which borders it to the east and northeast. It also borders Belarus to the north; Poland and Slovakia to the west; Hungary, Romania and Moldova to the southwest; with a coastline along the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov to the south and southeast. Kyiv is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Odesa. Ukraine's official language is Ukrainian.
During the Middle Ages, Ukraine was the site of early Slavic expansion and the area later became a key centre of East Slavic culture under the state of Kievan Rus', which emerged in the 9th century. The state eventually disintegrated into rival regional powers and was destroyed by the Mongol invasions of the 13th century. The area was then contested, divided, and ruled by a variety of external powers for the next 600 years, including the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austrian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Tsardom of Russia. The Cossack Hetmanate emerged in central Ukraine in the 17th century, but was partitioned between Russia and Poland, and absorbed by the Russian Empire. Ukrainian nationalism developed and, following the Russian Revolution in 1917, the short-lived Ukrainian People's Republic was formed. The Bolsheviks consolidated control over much of the former empire and established the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union when it was formed in 1922. In the early 1930s, millions of Ukrainians died in the Holodomor, a human-made famine. The German occupation during World War II in Ukraine was devastating, with 7 million Ukrainian civilians killed, including most Ukrainian Jews.
Ukraine gained independence in 1991 as the Soviet Union dissolved, and declared itself neutral. A new constitution was adopted in 1996. A series of mass demonstrations, known as the Euromaidan, led to the establishment of a new government in 2014 after a revolution. Russia then unilaterally annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, and pro-Russian unrest culminated in a war in the Donbas between Russian-backed separatists and government forces in eastern Ukraine. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since the outbreak of war with Russia, Ukraine has continued to seek closer ties with the United States, European Union, and NATO.
Ukraine is a unitary state and its system of government is a semi-presidential republic. A developing country, it is the poorest country in Europe by nominal GDP per capita and corruption remains a significant issue. However, due to its extensive fertile land, pre-war Ukraine was one of the largest grain exporters in the world. Ukraine is considered a middle power in global affairs, and the Ukrainian Armed Force is the fifth largest armed force in the world in terms of both active personnel as well as total number of personnel with the eighth largest defence budget in the world. The Ukrainian Armed Forces also operates one of the largest and most diverse drone fleets in the world. It is a founding member of the United Nations, as well as a member of the Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization, and the OSCE. It is in the process of joining the European Union and has applied to join NATO. (Full article...)
In the news
- 8 December 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Casualties of the Russo-Ukrainian War
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in action since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and that 370,000 soldiers have been injured, while estimating the number of Russian casualties at 198,000 soldiers killed and more than 550,000 soldiers injured. (Politico)
- 6 December 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Southern front of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- A Russian missile strike kills ten civilians in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, and injures four others, including two children. Separately, a missile attack on an administrative building in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, kills two people and injures 16 others. (Reuters)
- 6 December 2024 – Belarus–Russia relations, Nuclear risk during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko sign an agreement in Minsk, Belarus, offering security guarantees to Belarus including nuclear security and the possible use of Russian nuclear weapons in order to repel aggressions. (AP)
- 4 December 2024 – Russo-Ukrainian War
- Russia–NATO relations
- A Russian Navy warship fires warning shots at a German helicopter conducting a routine patrol over the Baltic Sea, forcing the helicopter pilots to make evasive maneuvers. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock condemns the incident as part of Russia's hybrid warfare against NATO. (Anadolu Agency)
- 2 December 2024 – Russo-Ukrainian War
- Military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War
- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announces that the United States will provide Ukraine with a $725 million weapons package. (Reuters)
- 1 December 2024 – Ukraine–United States relations
- U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan says that the United States will not return the nuclear weapons that they dismantled to Ukraine. (Reuters)
Featured pictures
Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that a journalist dubbed Olena Shevchenko as "probably the most famous lesbian in Ukraine"?
- ... that during a German charity concert for Ukraine, Slovakian singer Judita Nagyová performed a solo in the finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony?
- ... that Zinkiv, Ukraine, was a center of Hasidic Judaism until almost the entirety of the city's 2,300-strong Jewish population was murdered during the Holocaust?
- ... that Ukrainian artist Kateryna Antonovych worked at Prague's Museum of Ukraine's Struggle for Independence before the US Army Air Forces bombed it?
- ... that Halyna Kuzmenko promoted the Ukrainization of the Makhnovist movement, successfully increasing the use of the Ukrainian language by Russian speakers?
- ... that the first film written and directed by Marysia Nikitiuk has been called one of the "most iconic" works of modern Ukrainian cinema?
More did you know -
- ... that the Kryvbas economic region in Ukraine is one of the largest iron ore and steel industry centers in Europe?
- ... that according to legend, a tunnel leads from the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle to the Khotyn Fortress which is 20 kilometres (12 mi) away?
- ... that although the secular music of Mykola Leontovych was well known in the twentieth century, the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom was little known because of a ban on sacred music in the Soviet Union?
- ... that the Privat Group is one of the few Ukrainian companies that own industries in the United States?
- ... that Vasyl Avramenko is often referred as "The father of the Ukrainian dance"?
- ... that the longest of the Kiev bridges, the 1,543 metres long Paton Bridge over the Dnieper River, constructed in 1953 was the first fully welded steel construction of such length at that time?
Selected article -
The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia occupied and annexed Crimea from Ukraine and supported pro-Russian separatists fighting the Ukrainian military in the Donbas War. These first eight years of conflict also included naval incidents and cyberwarfare. In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and began occupying more of the country, starting the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II. The war has resulted in a refugee crisis and tens of thousands of deaths.
In early 2014, the Euromaidan protests led to the Revolution of Dignity and the ousting of Ukraine's pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych. Shortly after, pro-Russian unrest erupted in eastern and southern Ukraine, while unmarked Russian troops occupied Crimea. Russia soon annexed Crimea after a highly disputed referendum. In April 2014, Russian-backed militants seized towns in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region and proclaimed the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) as independent states, starting the Donbas war. Russia covertly supported the separatists with its own troops, tanks and artillery, preventing Ukraine from fully retaking the territory. In February 2015, Russia and Ukraine signed the Minsk II agreements, but they were never fully implemented in the years that followed. The Donbas war settled into a violent but static conflict between Ukraine and the Russian and separatist forces, with many brief ceasefires but no lasting peace and few changes in territorial control. (Full article...)
In the news
- 8 December 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Casualties of the Russo-Ukrainian War
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in action since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and that 370,000 soldiers have been injured, while estimating the number of Russian casualties at 198,000 soldiers killed and more than 550,000 soldiers injured. (Politico)
- 6 December 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Southern front of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- A Russian missile strike kills ten civilians in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, and injures four others, including two children. Separately, a missile attack on an administrative building in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, kills two people and injures 16 others. (Reuters)
- 6 December 2024 – Belarus–Russia relations, Nuclear risk during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko sign an agreement in Minsk, Belarus, offering security guarantees to Belarus including nuclear security and the possible use of Russian nuclear weapons in order to repel aggressions. (AP)
- 4 December 2024 – Russo-Ukrainian War
- Russia–NATO relations
- A Russian Navy warship fires warning shots at a German helicopter conducting a routine patrol over the Baltic Sea, forcing the helicopter pilots to make evasive maneuvers. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock condemns the incident as part of Russia's hybrid warfare against NATO. (Anadolu Agency)
- 2 December 2024 – Russo-Ukrainian War
- Military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War
- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announces that the United States will provide Ukraine with a $725 million weapons package. (Reuters)
- 1 December 2024 – Ukraine–United States relations
- U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan says that the United States will not return the nuclear weapons that they dismantled to Ukraine. (Reuters)
Selected anniversaries for December
- December 1, 1991 — Ukraine's first presidential election takes place.
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Notes
- ^ In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Ilyich and the family name is Brezhnev.