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. Ukraine has a transition economy and remains one of the poorest countries in Europe, while corruption remains a significant issue. Due to its extensive fertile land, the country is an important exporter of grain. Ukraine is considered a middle power in global affairs. Its military is the sixth largest armed force in the world with the eighth largest defence budget, significantly boosted by international support following Russia's invasion in 2022, and operates one of the world’s largest and most diverse drone fleets. A founding member of the United Nations, it is also in the Council of Europe, the World Trade Organisation, and the OSCE. It is in the process of joining the European Union and has applied to join NATO. (Full article...)
In the news
- 5 January 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Kursk offensive
- The Ukrainian Army launches a new offensive in Russia's Kursk Oblast. (BBC News)
- 4 January 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Eastern Ukraine campaign, Killing of journalists during the Russo-Ukrainian War
- A war correspondent for the Russian newspaper Izvestia is killed in a Ukrainian drone strike in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. (Reuters)
- The Russian government claims to have shot down eight American ATACMS missiles fired by Ukraine and vows retaliation. (CNN)
- 3 January 2025 – 2024 Estlink 2 incident
- A district court in Helsinki, Finland, denies a request to release the impounded oil tanker Eagle S, suspected of damaging the Estlink 2 submarine power cable and carrying sanctioned Russian oil. (Al Jazeera)
- 3 January 2025 – Next Ukrainian presidential election
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that the country will not hold presidential elections as long as the country is under martial law, even if Russia puts it as a pre-condition for negotations. (Kyiv Independent)
- 2 January 2025 – Syria–Ukraine relations
- Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that Ukraine will pledge support to the Syrian transitional government. (The Press Democrat)
- 1 January 2025 – 2022–2023 Russia–European Union gas dispute
- Russia's gas firm Gazprom suspends exports of Russian natural gas through Ukrainian pipelines after Ukraine refused to renew the transit agreement between its operator Naftogaz and Gazprom. However, Hungary will continue receiving Russian natural gas via the TurkStream pipeline. (Reuters)
- 30 December 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Prisoners of war in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Featured pictures
Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that the United Ukrainian Ballet Company, consisting of exiled dancers based in The Hague, has toured the UK, Singapore, Australia and the US?
- ... that the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York, founded in 1949 by immigrants, first toured Ukraine in 1990?
- ... that Oleksandr Kamyshin, the head of Ukrainian Railways, who runs the iron diplomacy program that brings world leaders to Kyiv by rail, carries his gun and his son's stuffed owl with him?
- ... that Ukrainians Nadia Smyrnytska, Maria Kalyuzhnaya and Maria Kovalevska joined other prisoners in committing suicide to protest against the abuse of imprisoned women in Kara katorga?
- ... that Serhiy Kot was the editor of Ukrainian Question, a collection of articles on the status of Ukraine in the 1930s?
- ... that Mali and Niger broke off diplomatic relations with Ukraine over the country's alleged support for rebel groups in the Battle of Tinzaouaten?
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 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 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?
- ... 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 the Khreschatyk is the main street of Ukrainian capital Kyiv on which Orange Revolution and other historical events mainly took place?
Selected article -
The COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine has resulted in 5,541,489[1] confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 109,925[1] deaths.
The virus was confirmed to have spread to Ukraine when the country's first case was confirmed to be hospitalized in Chernivtsi Oblast on 3 March 2020, a man who had travelled from Italy to Romania by plane and then arrived in Ukraine by car. An emergency was declared on 20 March 2020 in Kyiv Oblast, Chernivtsi Oblast, Zhytomyr Oblast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, and the city of Kyiv. New infections and deaths started to break records by late October 2021. By then, a total of 2.8 million coronavirus cases and 64,936 COVID-19 related deaths had occurred in Ukraine. (Full article...)
In the news
- 5 January 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Kursk offensive
- The Ukrainian Army launches a new offensive in Russia's Kursk Oblast. (BBC News)
- 4 January 2025 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Eastern Ukraine campaign, Killing of journalists during the Russo-Ukrainian War
- A war correspondent for the Russian newspaper Izvestia is killed in a Ukrainian drone strike in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. (Reuters)
- The Russian government claims to have shot down eight American ATACMS missiles fired by Ukraine and vows retaliation. (CNN)
- 3 January 2025 – 2024 Estlink 2 incident
- A district court in Helsinki, Finland, denies a request to release the impounded oil tanker Eagle S, suspected of damaging the Estlink 2 submarine power cable and carrying sanctioned Russian oil. (Al Jazeera)
- 3 January 2025 – Next Ukrainian presidential election
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that the country will not hold presidential elections as long as the country is under martial law, even if Russia puts it as a pre-condition for negotations. (Kyiv Independent)
- 2 January 2025 – Syria–Ukraine relations
- Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that Ukraine will pledge support to the Syrian transitional government. (The Press Democrat)
- 1 January 2025 – 2022–2023 Russia–European Union gas dispute
- Russia's gas firm Gazprom suspends exports of Russian natural gas through Ukrainian pipelines after Ukraine refused to renew the transit agreement between its operator Naftogaz and Gazprom. However, Hungary will continue receiving Russian natural gas via the TurkStream pipeline. (Reuters)
- 30 December 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Prisoners of war in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Selected anniversaries for January
- January 3, 1681 — Treaty of Bakhchisarai was signed by Russia, the Ottoman Empire, and the Crimean Khanate at the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish War (1676–1681).
- January 10, 1992 — the Ukrainian karbovanets replaced the Soviet ruble at par, with the ISO 4217 code being
UAK
. - January 15, 1967 — David Burliuk, an avant-garde artist, died in Long Island, New York.
- January 22, 1919 — The Act Zluky was signed, unifying the Ukrainian People's Republic and the West Ukrainian National Republic.
- January 23, 2005 — Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko was inaugurated into office after winning the second run-off elections in late 2004.
- January 29, 1918 — Battle of Kruty takes place between the Ukrainian People's Republic and Bolshevik forces.
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Notes
- ^ a b Mathieu, Edouard; Ritchie, Hannah; Rodés-Guirao, Lucas; Appel, Cameron; Giattino, Charlie; Hasell, Joe; Macdonald, Bobbie; Dattani, Saloni; Beltekian, Diana; Ortiz-Ospina, Esteban; Roser, Max (2020–2024). "Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)". Our World in Data. Retrieved 2024-12-30.