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
- 31 October 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Foreign involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy strongly condemns the United States and European nations for making "zero response" to the Russian deployment of North Korean soldiers against Ukraine. (Reuters)
- Kharkiv strikes
- A Russian glide bomb strikes a residential building in Kharkiv, killing three people and injuring 35 others, according to Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. (AP)
- 29 October 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Eastern Ukraine campaign
- Russia claims that it has taken the cities of Selydove and Hirnyk in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, with open-source data indicating that Russian forces are advancing at their fastest pace in at least one year amid signs of North Korean involvement in the war. (Reuters)
- Kyiv strikes, Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- At least six people are killed and 13 others are injured in overnight Russian attacks in Kharkiv, Kherson, and Kyiv, Ukraine. (Reuters)
- Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov vows to retaliate harshly against Ukraine after a drone strike targeted a Special Forces University in Gudermes, Chechnya, Russia, representing the first known drone attack in Chechnya by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. (Reuters), (The Kyiv Independent)
- 28 October 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Kharkiv strikes
Featured pictures
Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that Jenya Kazbekova, a competition climber on Ukraine's 2024 Olympic team, is the daughter and granddaughter of competition climbing medalists?
- ... that 1920s belles-lettres books published by the State Publishing House of Ukraine sold out more rapidly than similar books published elsewhere in the Soviet Union, despite the higher average price?
- ... that in the history of opera in Ukraine, Mykola Lysenko's historical Taras Bulba was the first grand opera, but not performed during his lifetime because he refused a performance in Russian?
- ... that Oksana Lyniv founded the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine in 2016 and conducted them in thirty concerts across ten music festivals in 2022?
- ... that Artem Datsyshyn, the National Opera of Ukraine's principal dancer in ballets such as Swan Lake and La Bayadère, is said to have danced with "romantic sublimity" and "psychological depth"?
- ... that Olga Onuch is believed to be the first professor of Ukrainian politics in the English-speaking world?
More did you know -
- ... that among many historic landmarks at the Andrew's Descent in Kyiv, there is a medieval Gothic style castle that locals call the "Castle of Richard the Lion Heart" due to the legend the 12th century King of England had visited the building?
- ... that the Privat Group is one of the few Ukrainian companies that own industries in the United States?
- ... that Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych (pictured), known for the "Carol of the Bells", was nicknamed "Ukrainian Bach" in France?
- ... that journalist Savik Shuster who used to work for Russian TV channels now prefers to work for the Ukrainian TV because he felt the Russian Government was limiting his journalistic freedom?
- ... that the Khreschatyk is the main street of Ukrainian capital Kyiv on which Orange Revolution and other historical events mainly took place?
- ... that the Kryvbas economic region in Ukraine is one of the largest iron ore and steel industry centers in Europe?
Selected article -
Crimea (/kraɪˈmiːə/ kry-MEE-ə) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukraine. To the east, the Crimean Bridge, constructed in 2018, spans the Strait of Kerch, linking the peninsula with Krasnodar Krai in Russia. The Arabat Spit, located to the northeast, is a narrow strip of land that separates the Syvash lagoons from the Sea of Azov. Across the Black Sea to the west lies Romania and to the south is Turkey. The population is 2.4 million, and the largest city is Sevastopol. The region has been under Russian occupation since 2014.
Called the Tauric Peninsula until the early modern period, Crimea has historically been at the boundary between the classical world and the steppe. Greeks colonized its southern fringe and were absorbed by the Roman and Byzantine Empires and successor states while remaining culturally Greek. Some cities became trading colonies of Genoa, until conquered by the Ottoman Empire. Throughout this time the interior was occupied by a changing cast of steppe nomads, coming under the control of the Golden Horde in the 13th century from which the Crimean Khanate emerged as a successor state. In the 15th century, the Khanate became a dependency of the Ottoman Empire. Lands controlled by Russia and Poland-Lithuania were often the target of slave raids during this period. In 1783, after the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774), the Russian Empire annexed Crimea. Crimea's strategic position led to the 1854 Crimean War and many short lived regimes following the 1917 Russian Revolution. When the Bolsheviks secured Crimea, it became an autonomous soviet republic within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. It was occupied by Germany during World War II. When the Soviets retook it in 1944, Crimean Tatars were ethnically cleansed and deported under the orders of Joseph Stalin, in what has been described as a cultural genocide. Crimea was downgraded to an oblast in 1945. In 1954, the USSR transferred the oblast to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on the 300th anniversary of the Pereyaslav Treaty in 1654. (Full article...)
In the news
- 31 October 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Foreign involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy strongly condemns the United States and European nations for making "zero response" to the Russian deployment of North Korean soldiers against Ukraine. (Reuters)
- Kharkiv strikes
- A Russian glide bomb strikes a residential building in Kharkiv, killing three people and injuring 35 others, according to Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. (AP)
- 29 October 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Eastern Ukraine campaign
- Russia claims that it has taken the cities of Selydove and Hirnyk in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, with open-source data indicating that Russian forces are advancing at their fastest pace in at least one year amid signs of North Korean involvement in the war. (Reuters)
- Kyiv strikes, Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- At least six people are killed and 13 others are injured in overnight Russian attacks in Kharkiv, Kherson, and Kyiv, Ukraine. (Reuters)
- Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov vows to retaliate harshly against Ukraine after a drone strike targeted a Special Forces University in Gudermes, Chechnya, Russia, representing the first known drone attack in Chechnya by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. (Reuters), (The Kyiv Independent)
- 28 October 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Kharkiv strikes
Selected anniversaries for November
- November 11—November 12, 1918 — Battle of Przemyśl was fought between Polish and Ukrainian forces.
- November 24, 2007 - the official day of remembrance for people who died as a result of Holodomor and political repression.
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