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
- 18 November 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Ukrainian energy crisis, 17 November 2024 Russian strikes on Ukraine
- Ukraine re-implements nationwide rolling blackouts primarily due to the destruction of energy infrastructure by Russian airstrikes during the prior day. Odesa continues to be left without power since the onset of the attacks. (Reuters)
- Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
- Odesa strikes
- Russian forces launched a missile attack on the city of Odesa at the second consecutive day, killing at least 10 civilians, dozens injured and damaging civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings. (Ukrainska Pravda)
- 17 November 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure, Ukrainian energy crisis
- 17 November 2024 Russian strikes on Ukraine
- Russia launches its largest aerial attack on Ukraine in months. According to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, around 120 missiles and 90 drones were launched, damaging energy infrastructure across the country, killing at least seven people, and causing widespread damage. (CNN) (BBC News)
- Ten people are killed and 52 others are injured in a Russian missile strike on an apartment building in Sumy, Ukraine. (Reuters)
- United States President Joe Biden lifts restrictions on the Ukrainian use of U.S. weapons for deep attacks inside Russia, with Ukrainian forces planning to use the weapons in long-distance attacks in the coming days. (Reuters)
Featured pictures
Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that some severe environmental impacts of the invasion of Ukraine can be seen from space?
- ... that the Dvorichna settlement hromada has remained divided between Russia and Ukraine since the 2022 Kharkiv counteroffensive?
- ... that the Ukrainian composer Borys Lyatoshynsky composed his second opera, Shchors in 1937–38, about a military figure from Ukraine who fought for the Soviet Red Army in the Ukrainian–Soviet War?
- ... that the Russian airstrike on Kyiv TV Tower (video featured) killed Yevhenii Sakun, one of at least 14 civilian journalists killed in the line of duty during the Russo-Ukrainian War?
- ... that Ukrainian Sheriffs went to summer school after being shot?
- ... that Monika Buczkowska, who, as a student in Poznań, performed as Mozart's Susanna, was a soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at a charity concert for Ukraine at the Alte Oper?
More did you know -
- ... that the Privat Group is one of the few Ukrainian companies that own industries in the United States?
- ... that the married Western Ukrainian Clergy became a hereditary caste that dominated western Ukrainian society?
- ... that the Khreschatyk is the main street of Ukrainian capital Kyiv on which Orange Revolution and other historical events mainly took place?
- ... that according to legend, a tunnel leads from the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle to the Khotyn Fortress which is 20 kilometres (12 mi) away?
- ... that Vasyl Avramenko is often referred as "The father of the Ukrainian dance"?
- ... that Ukrainian naturalist, lecturer, artist and author John Lhotsky was credited as the first discoverer of gold in New South Wales?
Selected article -
Little Russia, also known as Lesser Russia, Malorussia, Little Rus', and the French equivalent Petite Russie, is a geographical and historical term used to describe Ukraine.
At the beginning of the 14th century, the patriarch of Constantinople accepted the distinction between what it called the eparchies of Megalē Rosiia (Great Rus') and Mikrà Rosiia (Little Rus'). The jurisdiction of the latter became the metropolis of Halych in 1303. The specific meaning of the adjectives "Great" and "Little" in this context is unclear. It is possible that terms such as "Little" and "Lesser" at the time simply meant geographically smaller and/or less populous, or having fewer eparchies. Another possibility is that it denoted a relationship similar to that between a homeland and a colony (just as "Magna Graecia" denoted a Greek colony). (Full article...)
In the news
- 18 November 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Ukrainian energy crisis, 17 November 2024 Russian strikes on Ukraine
- Ukraine re-implements nationwide rolling blackouts primarily due to the destruction of energy infrastructure by Russian airstrikes during the prior day. Odesa continues to be left without power since the onset of the attacks. (Reuters)
- Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
- Odesa strikes
- Russian forces launched a missile attack on the city of Odesa at the second consecutive day, killing at least 10 civilians, dozens injured and damaging civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings. (Ukrainska Pravda)
- 17 November 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure, Ukrainian energy crisis
- 17 November 2024 Russian strikes on Ukraine
- Russia launches its largest aerial attack on Ukraine in months. According to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, around 120 missiles and 90 drones were launched, damaging energy infrastructure across the country, killing at least seven people, and causing widespread damage. (CNN) (BBC News)
- Ten people are killed and 52 others are injured in a Russian missile strike on an apartment building in Sumy, Ukraine. (Reuters)
- United States President Joe Biden lifts restrictions on the Ukrainian use of U.S. weapons for deep attacks inside Russia, with Ukrainian forces planning to use the weapons in long-distance attacks in the coming days. (Reuters)
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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