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 ultimately 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 ultimately 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 a middle power 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
- 12 October 2024 – Russo-Ukrainian war
- Ukrainian conscription crisis
- Local media outlets report that Ukrainian military recruitment officers raided shopping centers, bars, restaurants, and a large concert venue across several Ukrainian cities including Kyiv, Dnipro, and Kharkiv to detain men not in compliance with conscription orders. (AP)
- 11 October 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Eastern Ukraine campaign
- Battle of Toretsk
- The military administrator of the city of Toretsk in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, reports that more than half of the city has been taken by Russian Armed Forces, with the Armed Forces of Ukraine fighting back at eight different locations. (Reuters)
- 10 October 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- The World Bank approves a new financial intermediary fund consisting of grants from the United States, Japan, Canada, and other countries coupled with interest from frozen Russian assets to give to Ukraine as part of a $50 billion loan. (Reuters)
- Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War confirms the death of journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who had been held prisoner by Russia since August 2023. (The Kyiv Independent)
- 7 October 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Crimea attacks
- An oil terminal in Feodosia, the largest oil facility in Russian-occupied Crimea, catches fire following an overnight drone attack by Ukrainian forces. Russian state media reports that a state of emergency has been declared in Feodosia due to a "human-made disaster". (Ukrainska Pravda)
- Eastern Ukraine campaign
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Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that the historian and political journalist Lancelot Lawton addressed a House of Commons committee in London in 1935, beginning: "The chief problem in Europe to-day is the Ukrainian problem"?
- ... that a Ukrainian soldier has written a song dedicated to the Turkish combat drone Bayraktar TB2?
- ... that the Ukrainian Holodomor Memorial Day, commemorating the victims of the 1932–33 famine, is also observed in Canada?
- ... that Ukrainian parties obtained only a fifth of the votes in the 1917 Kiev City Duma election?
- ... that Olga Onuch is believed to be the first professor of Ukrainian politics in the English-speaking world?
- ... that in March 2022 Sonja van den Ende was the only Dutch journalist to report from the Russian-occupied Donbas on the war in Ukraine?
More did you know -
- ... 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 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?
- ... that the Khreschatyk is the main street of Ukrainian capital Kyiv on which Orange Revolution and other historical events mainly took place?
- ... that Vasyl Avramenko is often referred as "The father of the Ukrainian dance"?
- ... that the Privat Group is one of the few Ukrainian companies that own industries in the United States?
- ... that the neo-classical Verkhovna Rada building in Kyiv features a hundred-tonne glass dome over the chamber where the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine convenes to enact legislation?
Selected article -
Sviatoslav or Svyatoslav I Igorevich (Old East Slavic: Свѧтославъ Игорєвичь, romanized: Svętoslavŭ Igorevičǐ; Old Norse: Sveinald; c. 943 – 972) was Prince of Kiev from 945 until his death in 972. He is known for his persistent campaigns in the east and south, which precipitated the collapse of two great powers in Eastern Europe, Khazaria and the First Bulgarian Empire. He conquered numerous East Slavic tribes, defeated the Alans and attacked the Volga Bulgars, and at times was allied with the Pechenegs and Magyars (Hungarians).
Following the death of his father Igor in 945, Sviatoslav's mother Olga reigned as regent in Kiev until 962. His decade-long reign over the Kievan Rus' was marked by rapid expansion into the Volga River valley, the Pontic steppe, and the Balkans, leading him to carve out for himself the largest state in Europe. In 969, he moved his seat to Pereyaslavets on the Danube. In 970, he appointed his sons Yaropolk and Oleg as subordinate princes of Kiev and Drelinia, while he appointed Vladimir, his son by his housekeeper and servant Malusha, as the prince of Novgorod. (Full article...)
In the news
- 12 October 2024 – Russo-Ukrainian war
- Ukrainian conscription crisis
- Local media outlets report that Ukrainian military recruitment officers raided shopping centers, bars, restaurants, and a large concert venue across several Ukrainian cities including Kyiv, Dnipro, and Kharkiv to detain men not in compliance with conscription orders. (AP)
- 11 October 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Eastern Ukraine campaign
- Battle of Toretsk
- The military administrator of the city of Toretsk in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, reports that more than half of the city has been taken by Russian Armed Forces, with the Armed Forces of Ukraine fighting back at eight different locations. (Reuters)
- 10 October 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- The World Bank approves a new financial intermediary fund consisting of grants from the United States, Japan, Canada, and other countries coupled with interest from frozen Russian assets to give to Ukraine as part of a $50 billion loan. (Reuters)
- Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War confirms the death of journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who had been held prisoner by Russia since August 2023. (The Kyiv Independent)
- 7 October 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Crimea attacks
- An oil terminal in Feodosia, the largest oil facility in Russian-occupied Crimea, catches fire following an overnight drone attack by Ukrainian forces. Russian state media reports that a state of emergency has been declared in Feodosia due to a "human-made disaster". (Ukrainska Pravda)
- Eastern Ukraine campaign
Selected anniversaries for October
- October 4, 2006 — Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 crashed over the Black Sea en route from Tel Aviv (Israel) to Novosibirsk (Russia).
- October 25, 1854 — Battle of Balaclava was fought during the Crimean War, fought between the allied forces of the United Kingdom, French Empire and the Ottoman Empire on one side and Russia on the other.
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